REAL ESTATE AGENT SUCCESS TIPS

The 30 Most Important Days of Every Year!

2011-11-23T17:37:00.003-05:00

Many agents find that their businesses slow down, with some shutting down completely, between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

While I know there are many holiday parties going on and I often attend a few, it's important to not hurt your business by missing the opportunity of getting a jump on the new year.

During the holidays, it's a great time to go shopping and spend more time with your family and friends, but it's equally important to not stop working all together.

Here's a couple of strategies to keep you in the game:

- Go through your client database and see if you have your clients' most recent info, including updated cell phones & email addresses as well as their links to Facebook and LinkedIn.

- Find all of your old prospect leads and contact them to see if they aleady bought or plan to buy in 2012. You'll be surprised how many prospects haven't done anything and they could be in a better position to buy or sell a home.

- Design your business plan for 2012, but focus on the activities that you'll be doing for the first 90 days. How many listings and sales do you want to have?

- Break it down even more and set up what daily activities you need to do to achieve your goals.

- Which 2 - 3 marketing strategies generated the most income for you in 2011 and how can you expand on
them to make them even better by generating more business for you in 2012?

The reality is most agents have a "holiday hangover" come January 2nd and so when it's time to get back to selling real estate, they are not ready to hit the ground running, because they have no momentum to start out the new year.

Take the next 4 weeks to mix pleasure and a little bit of planning and you'll be way ahead of most real estate agents in your area.

To your success,

Dan

The 6 Essential Elements of Your Online Success!

2011-10-05T17:18:00.006-04:00

Whether you’ve been selling real estate for 6 months or 30 years, the communication landscape is changing…and fast!

If your clientele is younger than baby boomers, you’ve probably noticed that they aren’t into faxing, emailing and using landline phones any more. My 11 yr old daughter said today that I was listening to some ‘oldies’ songs. They were from the 70s & 80s. I said those aren’t oldies… oldies are from the 50s & 60s. She said “No Dad, those are oldies”. Ouch!

Many 20-somethings & 30-somethings are now Facebooking, Tweeting, texting, using mobile apps and so much more.

What’s it going to take to be successful in real estate in the next 5 – 10 years? Well, if social media isn’t one of your main tools, you’ll probably be struggling or looking for another career.

There is so much technology out there today that it can often be completely overwhelming. You may be wondering how to figure it all out.

Well, as a real estate agent, I have 6 recommendations that I believe you must master to achieve your online success.

If you focus on these 6 essential elements of online social media, you will be ahead of most Realtors.

Facebook

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter

ActiveRain

Blogs

Now, you may look at this list and think that’s a lot of work and a lot of wasted time. Well, it does take time to set up, but it’s worth it. You need to take social media seriously and yet at the same time you need to set up systems and time frames each day to maximize your results and do it with time efficiency.

I’ll be writing more about these topics in future posts as I continue to improve my social media skills as well as provide you access to some of the training tools I'm currently using.

Please comment below and let me know if you’re actively using these tools to keep in touch with your clientele and prospects.

Follow me on www.Twitter.com/CincyREguy
Connect me on www.LinkedIn.com/in/CincinnatiRealEstateGuy
LIKE me on www.Facebook.com/CincinnatiRealEstateGuy

Do You Have A LinkedIn Profile?

2011-09-23T15:00:00.006-04:00

Do You Have a LinkedIn Profile?

With everyone talking about Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, is it all really worth it?

I believe there are effective ways to market your business and gain new clients in these different social mediums, but if you're not careful there can also be a lot of time-wasting.

I've had a LinkedIn profile for awhile, but didn't know what to do with it, so I've been watching different webinars and reading up on various LinkedIn strategies.

The best thing to do right now, if you don't have a LinkedIn profile is to set yours up and start requesting connections to others you know.

In addition to your clients, prospects and service vendors, you should connect with real estate agents around
the country, who have the ability to refer business to you.

Please send me a request at http://www.linkedin.com/in/cincinnatirealestateguy and I will add you to my network or you can type in "Dan Weis" and I'm in the Cincinnati Ohio area.

Look at my profile as an example.

I will be making improvements to my profile and adding different application.

The #1 rule to remember about social media is " to build networks of people, who know you, like you and trust you". By servicing their needs, you're PAID in direct proportion to the number of people you serve.

Finally, there are some POWERFUL strategies that you can implement in LinkedIn, but you have get set up first. I will share some of these strategies as I implement them myself and let you know how they're working.

Remember, go to: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cincinnatirealestateguy

To your success,

Dan

Do You Want To Be GREAT?

2011-09-06T14:49:00.006-04:00

Whether the economy is good or bad, we've all gone through times were it's been tough.

It could be when you're new in the business or you've hit a plateau after achieving a certain goal...

Because you became very busy "IN" your business, you may have stopped doing the activities that got you there.

In business today, once you have your systems in place, it's more achievable to be a great agent than an average one, if you put in the hard work it takes to get there.

So, the question you should be asking yourself is "Do I want to be a great agent?"

Then the next question is "How do I do it?"

Well, I remember reading this anonymous quote many years ago and just found it again.

It says: "The single, biggest difference between the good and the great is that the good do what the great do only some of the time; while the great do what the great do - all of the time."

Stop here and re-read the quote above!

So determine which aspects of your business you're best at doing and do it more often. Make sure that you're focused on dollar productive activities and delegate the rest to others on your team.

Realize that top producing agents aren't that different than you, except for the fact that they know what they must do the most of, they do all of the time and they delegate the rest.

It's time for you to make a stand and be the best you can be too!

A Value-Added Service To Protect Your Clients!

2011-08-01T17:42:00.012-04:00

I hope your real estate business is going well or is at least turning around right now.

Would you like to earn some extra income while helping your clients while reducing your real estate liability?

I found a simple way to make extra money part-time by offering a service to my clients that offers them nationwide access to quality law firms for only $26/month or less.

See below how easy it is to share these services with your clients. You let the video or DVD do all the talking!

Now you may or may not be interested, but you owe it to your family to check out this membership plan.

I believe strongly in my heart that every smart person should have this Life Events legal membership. One of the benefits you can receive is a FREE WILL ($500 value). Approximately 70% of Americans don’t have a will in place to protect their family! A will is considered by many to be a love document for your family. I would hate to hear about something terrible happening in your life and you not having known about this service.

Would you be more likely to pick up a phone to call an attorney to help you with an actual or potential legal problem, if you knew you weren’t going to be billed $200 - $300 per hour for the phone consultation?

Do you have auto insurance?....health insurance? WHY? This service is just as important, if not, more!

1.5 million families in the United States and Canada own this membership plan! Find out why!

PLEASE watch this quick 10-minute video.
http://www.greatlegalbenefit.com
Your family and clients deserve it!

It’s very easy to add this service into your real estate presentation and differentiate yourself from your competition. You can even visit your past clients and show them a 10-minute video or to see if they’re interested in this service. RESULT: Many people will sign up for a membership and they will refer others to you. That can increase your real estate referral business as well!!! EARN a commission on every membership sign-up and you can receive residual income too!

If you want to get more detailed, Realtor-specific information about the marketing and compensation plan, go to: http://www.RealtorsHearThis.com.

“The person who told me about this service was a top-producing Realtor in Maryland and is now earning over 5-figures per month by offering this service to everyone he knows. I will never be without this service!”

Please contact me after viewing the video and let me know if you’re interested.

Dan Weis
Real Estate Consultant since 1985
Cell/text: 513-615-1890
dan@danweis.com

Oprah's 3 Secrets Revealed...

2011-07-23T21:52:00.007-04:00

Oprah Winfrey Revealed 3 Secrets on her Final Show!

Now I want to preface this post by saying that I rarely watched Oprah over her 25 years, but you never would have guessed that I was an Oprah viewer for her farewell season. I had seen some interesting promos about her final season and decided to record each day's show and if it was inspirational in nature, I would watch it.

Well, after watching her final show, which moved me, I saved the recording for 2 months until I had the time to write down some of her words of wisdom...her life lessons. So here's 3 of Oprah's philosophies that she's lived by in her life and I hope you can somehow incorporate them into yours:

1. Everybody has a calling. Your real job in life is to figure that out and start doing it. What are you called to do? Passion is the joy of doing what you're meant to do in life. Passion is a calling...it lights you up and it lets you know you're doing exactly what you should be doing.

2. You are soley responsible for you life...no one else! The choices you make every day will shape your future. Where you are today is based on the choices you've made in the past.

3. Everyone you meet wants validation and they want to know 3 things: "Do you see me?...Do you hear me?...Does what I say mean anything to you?" Focus on really acknowledging your children, your family, your friends, your co-workers, your clients and others.

If you really look at each point, there's a lot to comprehend in those 3 philosophies.

What does this have to do with real estate? Well, whether real estate is your calling...your passion or just a job that funds your life, figure it out and then determine how to maximize it to its greatest potential.

Oprah also said that "you have the power to change people's lives. Wherever you are is your platform." Her platform was a TV stage visible to millions. Yours can be wherever you are, whether it's helping your family and friends or your community or beyond.

These are some points to ponder...is your calling what you're doing now? Is it something you can do part-time? Any time given to help others is valuable.

To your success,

Dan

A Forgotten, Valuable Resource!

2011-06-01T19:28:00.010-04:00

Have you ever stopped using strategies and resources that were profitable in your real estate business and wondered why?

You had a good thing going and over time you got busy and stopped doing what had worked so well.

Well, here's a free resource that I used to get referrals from other real estate agents as well as some directly from consumers too.

It's called ActiveRain - it's a real estate network, where real estate agents, lenders, appraisers, inspectors, etc share their valuable knowledge and experiences through blogging.

Using ActiveRain's point system, you can be ranked in your area by how many blog posts you write, comments you make on other posts, referring others to the network. There's no money involved.

There is such a wealth of information there too. You can search topics and join groups. I started a "Facebook Tips" group, where you find learn from others what's working for them in using Facebook.

So before you leave my blog today, click on this link:

http://www.activerain.com/action/referrals/dweis

and register for free. There are some paid services, like ads and designing an outside blog, etc, but you don't have to do that.

My new goal: I'm going back to spending a minimum of 15 minutes a night - 5 days a week to learn about strategies in ActiveRain that are working for others and that I can implement into my business.

To your success,

Dan

April Fool's Day...Are You Ready For Today?

2011-04-01T10:56:00.011-04:00

What an appropriate day to write a post!

I'm just waiting to see what kind of gags are going to be played out today.

Well, for an update from what's been happening over the past month, I've been busy completing my listing presentation, pricing analysis presentation and have started working on my buyer's consultation presentation.

In updating these presentations, it's taken me back in time, looking at how I used to do these presentations years ago. Wow, they seemed so outdated!

Just like having your business photo updated every couple of years versus using the same one from 10+ years ago, your presentations also needs to get a make-over.

So if you haven't updated your photo or presentation, take some time to update it. If you'd rather get a tooth pulled, then hire a real estate virtual assistant to do it for you.

How's Your 2011 So Far?

2011-02-02T15:09:00.004-05:00

As we've completed one month into 2o11, I hope you've been busy building your business for the new year.

I've been working hard on re-designing my business and it's still an ongoing process. I've been focused on 2 words for 2011:

Simplify & Templates

It's easy to get sucked into making real estate harder than it is. Everybody is trying to sell you the latest and greatest gadget, product or service that will make your business explode.

What you need to do is step back and look at what you're good at and what you want to achieve in your business.

A few strategies I've been working on is:

redesigning my listing presentation
redesigning my market analysis & pricing presentation
redesigning my pre-listing packet (in PDF format to be emailed)
redesigning my buyer's consultation presentation

By doing these things as well as other stuff, it's allowed me to focus more on serving my clients and gaining more client referrals, because I'm not always worried about preparing my presentations.

Simplifying your business will give you your sanity back. Yes, there are still times when we all rush around putting out a fire, but by having presentations completed ahead of time, it allows you to be more focused.

By also designing templates, it allows you to complete your tasks much more quickly and you won't get distracted wondering what do I need to do today. I'll talk more about this later.

As 2010 Comes To An End....

2010-12-28T17:37:00.004-05:00

Now is the time to reflect on what went right and what went wrong this year.

Many agents had struggles, pain and setbacks while others maintained or did better than 2009.

Don't be too critical about your shortcomings. Look at which strategies in your business provided the best results and which ones you should either tweak or just get rid of in 2011.

I believe it's better to go deeper in 2 or 3 target markets and really focus on maximizing those couple of niches than to say that you will work on 5 - 10 different strategies.

It's just not possible to be really good at more than a couple of target markets, unless you have a large team and have been adding new strategies each year.

Being a jack of all trades and a master of none will break you!

With only 3 business days left in 2010, now is the time to determine if there's any last-minute business supplies or purchases you can make to be covered in your 2010 expenses.

I'm going to buy a Kodak zi8 video camera for posting my videos on YouTube and my blogs. They are now under $100.

May you have a safe, enjoyable and profitable New Year!

What is an “I.D.I.Day”?

2010-11-30T16:59:00.002-05:00

It’s an I Did It Day!

We all have things that we procrastinate over. The prospecting calls we don't want to make…putting off cleaning out the attic or the garage…our office desk areas, which just seem to grow files all by itself…the back seat of our cars…picking up the phone to call an old friend or family member we haven’t spoken to in years…need I go on?

By not doing or completing these tasks, you feel like you haven't achieved anything for the day and seem like they take up far too much guilt space in your head. They can even keep you from doing the things you really want to do. Have you ever said you couldn't do something with friends because you had 'xyz' to do in the weekend and then when Monday arrived you hadn't even touched the project, even though you spent the whole of Saturday and Sunday dreading it?

This is where an “I.D.I. Day” comes in.

Here’s how it works: You find 2 other people to join in the challenge and do a 3-way call. On the first call, you each state what tasks you’re going to complete that day. You also state which tasks you’re going to complete within the first hour. At the top of each hour, the 3 of you share your results of that past hour and what you plan to achieve in the following hour. Then you all hang up and attempt to get as much done as possible. The next hour, you’ll check in by sharing what you've completed and then what you plan to do next hour. You'll continue this until the last hour listed in the schedule is over.

The first time you do this challenge, I wouldn’t go for eight hours. I’d do it for 3 hours, say from 9:00am – 12:00 noon or from 1:00pm – 4:00pm.

You can use this day to work on anything you need to get done, from business to household chores, planning budgets to making up with people we need to make peace with. It's a great way to get some things done and a lot more fun when you know other people are doing the same. And, as everyone knows who has participated in an I.D.I.Day, the time goes by very quickly!

Don’t overcomplicate the tasks you want to achieve! Whatever you’ve been putting off for weeks or months, whether business or personal stuff, write down the items you really want to complete that will help you reduce your tolerations list and/or improve your business. What things do you think about on a daily or weekly basis that if you just did them, would make you feel better? You may end up doing several things during an hour or have one big thing to complete.

Remember, it’s not a competition among each other as much as it is with yourself to do more in less time. Don’t take on something that would take more than an hour to complete. Break it down into smaller bites that you can finish in less than an hour.

If you would like to raise the level of intensity to the challenge, you can even add a fine of say $10 or $20 that you pay the other 2 people, for each hour that you don’t complete your assigned task.

At the end of the I.D.I. Day, you’ll feel like you really accomplished something and feel good about yourself. You may even want to play the challenge more than once.

How To Increase Odds of Getting Your Offer Accepted!

2010-11-02T20:00:00.003-04:00

Would you like to increase the chances of getting your buyer's offer accepted?

When an offer is written in Cincinnati Ohio, where I live, it's usually delivered (in person or by email) to the seller's agent, who then presents it to the seller. Obviously customs differ from market to market, so you may do it another way.

When writing an offer, review these steps:

Make sure all of your offer paperwork and disclosures are filled out completely.
Include an underwriter-verified, pre-approval letter with your offer.
Have your buyers write a personal letter telling their story

This last step is one that's rarely used, but can be the difference between getting your offer accepted or rejected. Your buyers should explain in writing (in one to two paragraphs) why they want to buy and live in the seller's home. It's like they are "Putting A Face on The Offer".

Your buyers may want to share details about their old home and where they are coming from. They may want to talk briefly about their jobs and their children, if any. You may need to help script out the letter for them.

Many times, a home seller never sees the buyer until the closing. So by putting a face on the offer, you make it more personal and it gives them a chance to bond...even if it's only on a subconscious level. They may realize that they have similar interests or backgrounds. People like to deal with others that they like.

As you write the letter, consider including a family photo of the buyers (with their permission, of course) as this is another way to connect with the sellers.

I've used this strategy successfully many times and it does make a difference...even in multiple offer situations, where we've gotten the home over another buyer when everything else was equal.

Now if the property is a lender-owned or corporate-owned, the odds of this strategy working can decrease, but what can it hurt. You're still dealing with people. Give it a shot!

Are You Staying In Touch With Your Clients Enough?

2010-10-28T16:08:00.005-04:00

In today's market, servicing your active and continuing to serve your inactive clients is critical to your business. I believe consumers looking to buy or sell a home find an agent in one of three ways:

through information-gathering while on the Internet
by getting a recommendation from family or a friend
by driving in a neighborhood and seeing a yard sign

Here's a list of questions you need to ask yourself to see if you're maximizing your client referrals:

How well is your current client retention program working?
How can you become more involved in your client's life?
How well is your current client retention program working?
What improvements can you make to it?
How can you increase the number of times you interact with them (without annoying them) and what value can you offer them?
What can you do to increase their lifetime value?
What do other industries do to create long term relationships with you?
Have you provided an opportunity for your clients to allow family and friends to learn more about you without person to person contact?

Take some time to analyze these questions and bounce them off with some other agents in your office. You need to realize that when you take care of your clients, they will usually continue being your clients after the transaction is over. But if you ignore them, they will quickly forget about you.

"Points For Results" System

2010-10-19T16:23:00.002-04:00

Do you sometimes struggle to have a productive day?

The purpose of this system is to keep you focused on completing your daily activities (Mon - Fri) that will help you achieve your goals. You need to determine the # of activities you need to accomplish on a daily basis.

I recommend between 5 - 10 activities. Write down what rewards you'll give yourself for completing the system each week, month.

Bonus points for the day:

1 point for setting a new qualified appt
1 point for writing an offer

Penalty: pay $1 - $10 for each point you don't get at the end of each day (depending on how serious you want to play). Pay the money into an envelope every day you don't hit your goals and donate it to a charity of your choice.

Work every business day to getting your total number of points. At the top of your list, put "Get ___ Points". The key is to use the points system daily. Don't wait until Friday and try to get all the points in 1 day.

If you tally ___ points per day, you will never run out of business, your pipeline will always be full, you'll rarely ever have a slow period and you will have a consistent business.

Use this system for 15 business days and then decide for yourself if it should become an integral part of your selling arsenal.

You can even have a contest with one or more other agents in your office.

Today Is A Day of Sadness!

2010-10-05T00:32:00.004-04:00

I probably shouldn't have posted today.

My intent was to bring a conscious awareness to the risks we sometimes put ourselves in being Realtors and being too trusting. Obviously, we don't know the details about the attacks of our fellow Realtors, but it's important to remember them as they serve as a reminder of the dangers that do lurk out there.

The reason I shouldn't have posted today was because I found out that one of my clients died in a fiery crash today in Cincinnati. He had a flat tire and was waiting in his car on the berm for assistance when a man, who was allegedly weaving in and out of lanes at speeds of up to 130 MPH, rammed his car. Reports say he died instantly...I hope he didn't suffer. I have such sadness for his family.

R.I.P. Jim!

2 Realtors Murdered & Another Assaulted!

2010-10-04T20:16:00.009-04:00

It is with deep sadness that we report on the murders of two prominent Northeast Ohio REALTORS last week.

Andrew J. VonStein, with Cutler Real Estate Ravenna Office, was found dead inside a vacant property listed for sale in Portage County. According to news reports, the Portage County Sherriff’s Office has ruled the death a homicide and is undergoing an extensive investigation.

Vivian Martin, broker-owner of Essence Realty from Youngstown and a member of the Youngstown Columbiana Association of REALTORS was also the victim of a violent homicide. This case is also under investigation.

In addition to these situations, we have been informed that there was an additional incident this week involving another Youngstown REALTOR being held at gunpoint for over an hour by three males.

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Often, one of the last things on our minds when we show property is our safety.

Do you know who you're showing properties to? Did you meet them in your office first and make a copy of their photo ID? Do you let others know where you'll be showing? Do you have a 'code word' to implement in an emergency? Is your cell phone charged with you during showings? Would you walk into a vacant home where the door was already unlocked?

Always take a moment before going to show properties and ask yourself if you're prepared for an emergency.

You must also decide if you are going to do open houses and if so, how will you prepare for them and what steps will you take to protect yourself during an open house.

Here is a great, blog post about safety on ActiveRain from Realtor M.C. Griffin Campbell:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1882979/realtor-s-safety-first-protect-and-serve-an-urgent-need-to-protect-ourselves

Be safe out there!

Where Are The Invisible Home Buyers Hiding?

2010-09-07T14:47:00.005-04:00

With over 90% of home buyers searching for properties on the internet today, it's tougher than ever to find home buyers, who are willing to raise their hands and come out of hiding. It's very easy for consumers to hide behind their computers and smartphones and not have to talk with us agents until they're ready to act.

Here's great 3 ways to find home buyers today:

1. Keep in touch with your sphere of influence and client base.

Since the trust factor is very important, buyers still rely heavily on family/friend recommendations of whom to work with. Keep in touch with everyone you know and share the various, free services that you can offer them that can make it easy to refer you to their family and friends.

2. Provide as many quality photos & details online as possible.

It still amazes me as to how many agents don't post quality (staged or at least organized & decluttered) interior photos and exterior (in-season) photos of their listings online. Few or no photos of a listing sounds the alarms going off in my head...what's wrong with this property? Whether they call you or their agent, the more information you provide online, the better chance you have of a buyer wanting to view your listing.

3. Use hotline #s and for sale sign brochure boxes for drive-by traffic.

Many buyers will still drive by a home before viewing it and that's the time to give them some information about the property by using hotline recordings and brochure box flyers. I personally don't list the price on the brochure, because I want the buyer to call me for more details. The only bad thing about brochures is you don't know who's picking them up, so it's important to use direct-response marketing on the brochures to offer value and hopefully the buyer will call you.

I'd love to hear your comments...please post them below.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Are you on ActiveRain? If not, you need to be...it's an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.

Expect The Unexpected!

2010-08-30T20:43:00.003-04:00

What would you do if you walked into your company's office meeting tomorrow morning and were told that your company has been sold...or worse, was closing its doors?

Having been an agent for 20+ years with a large, international brand real estate company, imagine my surprise, while on a family vacation, to find out that my broker did not renew his franchise agreement and we joined a well-respected, local real estate firm.

Can you imagine the shock and confusion that over 200 agents felt when hearing about it for the first time? I kept wondering how could this be happening. Many of us agents were extremely loyal to the brand and it was part of our business identity.

What was I going to do...find a new company or join my "new" and "immediate" family? After returning from my family vacation, I interviewed several competitors and analyzed their strengths and weaknesses.

I don't wish this situation on anyone. Looking back over the past 2 weeks, it makes me realize that many agents had to each weather through the storm and make the best decision they could on whether they would stay or go. There's no right or wrong answer...each situation is different.

The lesson I learned from all of this is you need to have a contingency plan in the back of your mind for the possibility of your real estate company not being there tomorrow. Your focus and goals must be strong enough to withstand the turmoil that accompanies a scenario like this. It will also help you get back into the game of selling real estate faster and not mentally "shut down" your business in the interim.

In the end, I stayed with my broker and his office manager, who I believe is the top sales manager in the city. They have an experienced staff and the infrastructure like no other.

Are you prepared if something ever happens to your broker? If not, now is the time to make a contingency plan.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Are you on ActiveRain? If not, you need to be...it's an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.

Getting The Most Out of a Good Book!

2010-08-18T01:54:00.004-04:00

When is the last time you enjoyed reading a good book?

Was it in high school...in college...just last year...just last month?

Whenever it was, it's SO important to your personal growth to read books every day...just 10 pages of a good book daily!

Read 10 pages of a good book before you go to bed at night instead of watching TV. By doing this, your sub-conscious mind will be replaying this over in your head while you're sleeping.

This past week I returned from an 8-day vacation with my family out west...visiting Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and driving back through the Mojave Desert to Phoenix.

We had a wonderful time. While flying to and from Phoenix, I was able to read the book "The Magic of Thinking Big" from cover to cover.

As I read, I highlighted the nuggets of information that I felt can help me become a better person, father, husband and entrepreneur.

Next, I copied the highlighted notes into a Work document, so that I can periodically re-read those nuggets and put them into action.

Now, as I read each new book, I write out a summary of valuable pieces of information that I can use to improve my life skills.

I'm making a notebook that's full of ideas, strategies and philosophies from many successful motivators and visionaries like Tony Robbins, David Schwartz, John C. Maxwell, Robert Kiyosaki, Jeff Olsen, Paul J. Meyer, Robert Allen, Jack Canfield, Dave Ramsey and so many more.

So, take the time now to start reading personal development business books, even certain magazines like Success Magazine and others are a great place to pick up powerful ideas.

Start today!

To your success,

Dan

Do You Have Your "4 Essentials" In Place?

2010-08-03T13:28:00.004-04:00

Every agent needs to have the essential tools for their business updated and in place to be successful.

The 4 essential tools that you need are:

Business Plan
Pre-Listing Packet
Listing Presentation
Buyer Presentation

It seems so elementary, but it's critical to have these 4 tools fine-tuned and ready to be used at a moment's notice.

Having these 4 tools updated will help keep you focused and on target to achieve your goals.

By following the steps in your presentations versus just 'winging it', you'll get more listings and sales with fewer objections.

Sometimes by just making a small change in your presentation, you'll increase your odds by 25% of gaining a new client.

So if you haven't analyzed your presentations in the past year or two, take the time to look them over and see if there's anything you can add or delete that will help your overall success rate. You should even get your presentation critiqued by someone you respect, whether in or outside of your market.

I'm in the process of updating my listing and buyer presentations now.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Are you on ActiveRain? If not, you need to be...it's an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.

How To Find Very Cheap Domain URL Extensions!

2010-07-26T17:20:00.014-04:00

How many times have you bought a domain name for multiple years and then never even used it?

That's why I buy all of my domain names (except for my personal name - danweis.com) for one year and then decide each year to renew them or not. I'm also testing niche market domains, so sometimes they work and other times not. I don't want to be paying for them for the next 2, 3, 5 or 10 years if I've stopped using them.

Why do I do that? Domain names can be OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive...depending on where you buy them.

It appears that domain names depending on the extension, ie .com, .net, etc can range in price from $10 to $35/year per domain URL.

Now, there are companies that promote buying URLs for each of your listings. At $10 - $35 per listing, that expense can add up quickly.

Well, I found a way to buy a domain name URL extension VERY expensively and I don't get anything for telling you about it.

You can get them for your listings...your blogs...free reports...etc.

I don't know how long this discount will last, but it can probably save you A LOT OF MONEY buying this kind of URL extension. It may have been obvious to some, but probably not to most of us.

Unfortunately, I can't share it with you here!

But don't worry, I will share if you're interested. I want to do a test.

If you'd like to know how to save a ton of money on buying specialty domain URL extensions, send me an email at dan@danweis.com and type "Cheap Domain Extension" in the subject line. Quick and easy!

Upon receipt of your email, I'll send you the details on where to get some inexpensive domain name extensions.

Again, I don't know how long the special pricing will be in effect, so hurry and send me a quick email!

Why Didn't You Do It?

2010-07-15T12:53:00.003-04:00

Why didn't you do it?

You said you wanted it!

I know you did!

You took the time to dream, analyze your business plan and write down your goals.

Now with 2010 being more than half-way over, how will you finish the second half of the year?

A business plan is mistakenly deemed to always be written in stone and never changed. That couldn't be farther from the truth. You should write your plan in pencil, expecting to tweak it often when needed.

You need to constantly re-assess your plan!

We often write down tasks and activities that we don't like to do, but must do to hit our goals. Then when we don't do them, our plan falls apart.

Next time, delegate the activities you don't like to do to others who excel at them. Yes, it costs money, but if you are achieving your goals, then you'll be more profitable.

Monitor your activities and results weekly and review your business plan monthly.

By keeping a closer eye on your daily activities, you'll be able to see what's working and where you can make changes to improve your efficiency and effectiveness.

So stop writing annual business plans!

Don't put so much pressure on yourself every January by expecting to know how your business will run for an entire year.

Now it's okay to have an annual income figure in your head of what you want to achieve, but break it down to four quarters and then build your business plan by focusing on 3 months at a time.

This way you'll always stay committed to working your plan for the next 3 months.

I've mentioned before the strategy called "Plan - Do - Review". Make a 3 month plan, do it for 3 months and then review it after 3 months and decide what changes you want to make.

Make it a great 2nd half of 2010!

As You Approach The Half-Way Mark...

2010-06-18T15:30:00.002-04:00

As you approach the half-way mark of 2010, how are you doing in your real estate business?

If you wrote down your goals for the year, are you on track?

If you didn't write any goals, are you where you thought you would be at this time?

I understand that many experts talk about having year-long and long-term goals in place, but in the markets many of us are having, I think it's critical to have shorter term goals in place that can be modified if necessary.

I believe it's more important to focus on the types of activities you need to achieve every day and week.

As you know, you need to have more transactions in the pipeline, because it's taking more inventory while closing fewer transactions.

Are your target markets effectively bringing you enough business this year?

While you may try different marketing strategies in a given year, the one you should always do year after year is keeping touch with your client base. Never ignore them, because they know, like and trust you. Always look for ways to show you care about them. Their referrals may be what keeps you going sometimes.

So how does your 2nd half of the year look to you?

What will you change in your business? What will you fine-tune? How can you get more transactions from your #1 source of business? These are important questions to ask yourself right now, so that 2010 will end up being a good year for you.

Is Social Media Part of Your Biz Plan?

2010-06-11T16:18:00.004-04:00

I just attended a 6-hour, Social Media Business Strategy session on Wednesday and am glad I went.

Do you ever get the feeling in some seminars that the ideas are blasting out of the firehose?

Well, I listen to everything, but my goal is to select one to three ideas that I can implement for my business.

Now you've probably heard of Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Active Rain, etc., but are you using them to as strategies to build your real estate business?

The best ideas I learned from the seminar are to blog and build a Facebook Fan page. I can't go in depth on them here, but suffice it to say that social media is definitely one area where you can increase your business in the future.

And the quicker you react and get started before the masses, the more leads over time you'll be able to generate.

More on this topic next week.

By the way, if you haven't been to ActiveRain, you are missing out on a valuable training resource and referral source. Register for free by clicking this link: ActiveRain and fill out your profile. Active Rain has great search engine optimization (SEO) and when you write great blog posts, you'll be more easily found by the public. You gain points by referring others, writing posts, and commenting other's posts.

To your success,

Dan

Biggest Real Estate Frustrations!

2010-05-31T17:44:00.004-04:00

Are you ready to go back to selling real estate the way it was 5 years ago?

Unfortunately, that won't be happening any time soon in most markets.

When sales are down and listings are in over-supply, many agents are not afraid to spout off to others about the struggles in the real estate industry.

Here are just a few of some recent comments I heard from agents :

"I'm working with a few buyers and they aren't in any hurry to buy."
"I have sellers who are deparate to sell and they're getting no showings."
"I can't generate any quality leads."
"There's too much new information to learn about short sales and foreclosures."
"Why does the media keep slamming the housing market with bad news?"

While it can be frustrating to all of us with all of the changes that are happening on almost a daily basis, it's important to realize it really comes down to focusing on dealing with the things you can control and removing the things you can't control from your business and mind.

A famous business philosopher, Jim Rohn, once said, "Don't wish it were easier, wish you were more skilled."

What things DO you have control over?

Is your listing presentation in top form?
Do you practice objections scripts, so you don't strain for an answer in front of potential clients?
Do you have a 'keeping in touch with clients' program that includes phone calls?

You need to be proactive in your business and keep your blinders on to avoid needless distractions.

There are agents in this market having their best year ever. Why? Because they put their head down and are going full speed ahead. They aren't paying attention to the media and are just 'doing it'.

Is it tough out there right now? Yes, but do you want to get better in selling real estate or be another statistic of someone who dropped out of real estate, because they couldn't cut it?

You can make excuses or get to work, but you can't do both!

The choice is yours to make...and your answer is?

Do You Have Snow In Your MLS Photos?

2010-05-14T11:49:00.002-04:00

Being mid-way through the month of May, now is a great time to review your MLS listing photos.

When searching homes on the MLS, I frequently find listings that still have snow in the photos or the trees are bare. Now is the time to take new seasonal photos. This is part of marketing your listings. When replacing dated photos, it's also a great time to take some more interior photos and ask your seller to move out or rearrange some furniture or make some other type of change that will improve the look of their home.

After updating your new photos in the MLS, don't forget to also post the new photos in Zillow, Trulia, Facebook, etc. You never know when a new buyer is looking online for the first time and they see your listing. Do you want them to see fresh, spring-time photos or dated, dreary winter photos?

Finally, this may seems like a no-brainer, but if you take your own listings photos, make sure you go at the right time of day when the sun is positioned to your advantage.

You know the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Show off your listings in their best light!

Are Forgotten Leads Costing You Money?

2010-05-05T12:53:00.005-04:00

Do you have buyer and seller leads that you're not working with right now?

Do you periodically find names and phone numbers on post-it notes on your desk?

Are the leads in a geographical area that you don't cover?

Do you ever add up the potential in lost income from not working with those leads?

It's a common occurence that at one time or another we've all been through. We get busy or the lead isn't motivated (right now) and we forget about them. Then we find their info several months later and wonder is it too late to call them.

What you need to start doing right now is assign the lead to yourself to consistently follow up with or refer it to another agent and keep in touch with them on the status of the lead.

Build a network of agents around town for areas and price ranges you don't cover and refer your leads out.

It's easy to justify in your mind that "oh, they weren't going to buy" or "I'll call them later", but handling your business this way is easily costing you at the very least a few thousand dollars in income up to $10,000 or more in a given year. That's not counting the potential loss of referral business too.

So before you put a lead into computer follow up program and write their info on a scrap piece of paper, really decide on how you're going to take care of this lead. Remember, it's a real person, who will more than likely buy or sell a home with someone and the question is...will "that someone" be you or an agent down the street?

How To Maximize Your Pre-Listing Preparation!

2010-04-06T11:55:00.007-04:00

If you've been in real estate for any length of time, you've most likely had a listing presentation that took two or more hours to finish.

Was it time well spent? Hopefully you got the listing after taking all of that time.

Believe it or not, sellers don't want to take that much time out of their lives either.

It's time to become more efficient and effective with your pre-listing preparation.

Well, whether you got the listing or not, there's are ways to improve your effectiveness and decrease the amount of time you take at a listing presentation.

I want to share 2 strategies today that you can do to tweak your preparation for the better:

Pre-listing Phone Consultation - When you get a listing referral or cold seller lead, let them know that you need to talk with them for about 15 minutes to discuss their housing needs and to learn more about their home. (Keep it focused on them.) You need to make a list of qualifying questions to ask them, so that you can learn their motivation for selling, what kind of condition their home is in and are they in financial trouble with their mortgage. Don't drill them with question after question though. Keep it conversational! This is your chance to interview them to see if you want to take the next step with them.
Pre-listing E-mail Packet - You should send them a pre-listing packet by email. All you need to do make up a couple of forms in WORD and then turn it into a PDF file. (I know I'm starting to sound techie now, but I'm definitely not a tech head.) Stress to the sellers that you need them to have the packet filled out by your appointment. When you arrive, if they've filled it out, you know you have a motivated seller and someone who will more than likely work with you.

If you have no idea how to write one, send me an email at dan@danweis.com and I'll forward you mine for your use only.

By doing these 2 strategies, you'll be able to focus more on the motivated sellers and not waste as much time with those who think their home is worth more than the market will bear right now.

Now go out and find some more motivated sellers. As experienced agents, we need to increase our at-bats, so that sellers have a better chance of selling their homes.

Inexpensive Ways To Keep In Touch With Clients!

2010-03-16T16:39:00.009-04:00

With more consumers staying "invisible" while searching on the Internet today, it's more important than ever to stay in touch with your client base.

Everybody talks about online lead generation being the way to go, but I don't think it's as effective as we're all lead to believe. There are many companies that want you to spend your hard-earned money on their products and services. Yet do they really work? Well, that's a topic for another day.

My focus today is about finding and using free and inexpensive ways to keep in contact with your clients. Make sure you have their updated email addresses and phone numbers. By staying in closer contact with your clients, it'll be easier to get referrals from those who know you care about them.

Here are a few strategies to consider:

follow-up calls to your client - 1, 15 & 30 days after closing
have client fill out a questionnaire about their family
call or mail a card on client's birthday
send client a Home Anniversary card
send a copy of closing statement for their next tax return
have a client appreciation party for those you enjoy being with
send a quarterly neighborhood market update by email
recommend contractors for any upcoming projects
ask them to call you before re-financing to avoid costly loans
invite them to join Facebook and become a friend

Be their real estate resource and let them know that they aren't bothering you when they need anything. Many of your clients may be nervous or scared about their personal situation in this economy and you don't even know about it. When you stay in touch with your clients, they know you care about them.

If you have any other ideas that are working for you, please comment below and share.

Are You Maximizing Your Time?

2010-03-10T19:10:00.004-05:00

Do you wake up in the morning with your day planned out?

If not, you are costing yourself valuable, irreplaceable time and money.

Here are 3 strategies to help you achieve your daily activities:

Time-Block Your Day - I know there are usually many distraction each day that take focus away from achieving your objectives, but you need to limit them. Set up 2 times each day to return incoming calls, i.e. 11:00am - 12:00 noon and again at 4:00pm - 5:00pm. Now this doesn't mean you can't return calls earlier or quicker, but if you are focused on prospecting or doing another dollar-productive activity, it's critical not to be interrupted.
Are You A Night Owl or Early Bird? - Figure out your creative peak time. Each day you need to allot time to prepare the day's activities, review your goals, read at least 10 pages of a motivational or inspirational book. You need to get your creative juices flowing! Whenever that time is best for you, take that personal time to rejuvenate yourself and get hyped for the day.
Keep Travel Time To A Minimum - When scheduling appointments for the day, see how you can combine road trips, so that you'll spend less time on the road and be more efficient. Give your clients a couple of different time options that work best for you instead of asking them what they want. Most of the time, your clients will gladly accomodate you.

These 3 strategies will help you achieve more out of each day instead of wondering where all the time went. You thought you were really busy, but if, at the end of the week, you have no new listings or sales, you really to look at what you're doing with your time.

When working, write down what you've done every 15 minutes. Was it busy work? Keeping transactions together? Prospecting for new clients? Only you'll know the true answer, so don't fool yourself. Take charge of your day!

Are You Ready For Spring Market?

2010-03-03T14:41:00.004-05:00

As many areas are starting to thaw from under several feet of snow and frigid temperatures, now that March is here, spring isn't far behind. And with spring, buyers start roaming the countryside, often looking at open houses, deciding if now is the time to buy a home.

I've heard some head-scratching tales from buyers lately about selfish listing agents and I want to share with you some open house strategies that can help you and your sellers achieve your goal of selling their home.

Now I understand that some buyers go to open houses to deal directly with the seller's agent, but you need to verify that they don't really have a buyer's agent, who they mistakenly forget to tell you about.

According to your state's laws, you need to disclose your agency role to the buyer and appropriately assist them.

If they have a buyer's agent, who couldn't attend with them, please honor the agent by calling them after the viewing and let them know of the buyer's interest and have them follow up, so that they can hopefully write an offer on your listing.

I've heard stories where the buyer was told they'd have to write an offer with the listing agent, since their buyer's agent wasn't there. Now I know laws are different everywhere, but if you agree with this situation, are you working in the best interest of your client?

When I'm at an open house, I always ask how they found out about it (usually by the internet or directional signs) and if they're working with a buyer's agent. If they say "YES", I still do everything I can to interest them in my listing, knowing their agent would write up the offer. I do this, because it's my job to get my listing sold!

Also, I take the time to prepare, arrive early to make sure it's in showing condition, host, ask & answer questions and anything else I can do to maximize the open house experience.

I know many agents do open houses just to pick up buyers to work with, but really put some extra effort into it and hopefully you'll be able to sell it.

In 2.5 weeks, our Cincinnati market is holding a city-wide, REALTOR® Super Open House Weekend. I think it's coming just in time for the warmer weather and with 40 days left to apply for the $8,000 tax credit.

If your area isn't doing this, start your open Super Open House Weekend within your company or combine several company's listings and hold them open.

Don't let this important time of year pass without a promotion. You need to get the first-time buyers looking and writing offers, so that the sellers can become move-up buyers.

It's prime selling time!

Are Internet Users Smarter Than You?

2010-02-16T11:02:00.003-05:00

More home buyers and sellers are accessing the information you used to provide them.

They are finding out more about listings and researching the details before meeting with you.

How does that affect you and your real estate business?

Well, here's some more facts from a recent Harris Interactive Research -12/09 survey:

Most time online - those aged 30-39 (18 hours) and those aged 25-29 (17 hours) and 40-49 (17 hours).
Adult Internet users now spend an average of 13 hours a week online, up +86% from 7 hours per week in 1999.
The number of adults online at home has increased to 76% this year compared to 66% in 2005.

I once heard the phrase "the Internet Empowered Consumer" meaning that there was a small group of people, who accessed the Internet for information. That's no longer the case.

Everybody has access to the Internet in one form or another and they usually know how to find what they're looking.

Home buyers and sellers are more educated than ever and if you don't do your homework before meeting with them, they'll leave you in the dust and find another agent.

You can't afford to not know at least everything a buyer or seller has the ability to learn on the Internet...i.e. county auditor values, last sale dates and sale prices, etc.

If you don't know what they know, you've lost a client. In their mind they're thinking "Why do I need you when I know this stuff and you don't?"

The problem is they don't always know how to decipher the information or they don't have the complete picture that pertains to their situation.

There is a ton of information online and offline to know and the average consumer only buys or sells 3 or 4 homes in their lifetime.

They are not the experts...you are! Right?

I'm in my 25th year as a Realtor and I find that I need to continuously educate myself even more today than ever before.

There are a lot of complexities and emotions involved in the sale of real estate and it's our role to serve and protect our clients.

So set up a routine of getting the data needed before meeting with potential clients and show them you know your stuff!

The cost of losing even one motivated and qualified client and their future referrals can be enormous to your bottom line!

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Are you on ActiveRain? If not, you need to be...it's an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.

Bad Weather Is Ripe For Client Calls!

2010-02-06T14:30:00.002-05:00

In Cincinnati and many other places, we're experiencing several inches of snow today (I measured 5 inches), so most people will be home trying to stay warm. It'll be a great time to pick up the phone and talk with clients and see what's happening in their lives.

No sales pitches!

No asking for referrals!

Just focusing on them!

So when your community experiences bad weather, do you take advantage of calling your clients while they're home? They'll love to hear from you and at the same time you're planting seeds.

2 Ways To Connect More With Your Clients!

2010-01-26T20:21:00.005-05:00

Isn't social media all the rage now?

Some agents are so excited about it, while others think it's a total waste of time. Well, I'm in the middle right now. I believe it's a powerful tool, but you also have to watch how much time you spend on it.

I've spent time studying and analyzing the social media platform called Facebook.

While it is an online media, if you're not careful, it can use up a lot of time in your work day.

I view Facebook as a way to stay close and in touch with my client base and friends. Period!

I don't play games on it (like Farmville) or activate a lot of applications. Those are time-wasters!

Here are 2 Facebook strategies I'm focused on right now:

Utilizing the personal page
Building a Fan page for my real estate business

On my personal page, I'm interacting with my clients and friends. I visit Facebook twice a day for about 5 - 10 minutes each...once around mid-day and then late afternoon to early evening. I want to find out what's happening in my "friends lives". My personal page is 95% personal and 5% real estate.

Next, I've set up a Fan page for my real estate business and this is really cool, because I invite people to become my Fans. It's permission-based marketing. When they select the "Become a Fan" button, they are giving me permission to talk to them about real estate. Right now, I'm posting once a day Monday through Friday on my Fan page. Also, I'm starting to promote my Fan page to prospects and the general public, because I want them to get to know me and have a resource for their real estate questions. My Fan page will probably be 90% real estate and 10% personal.

When you post, ALWAYS ask yourself, "Is what I'm posting of value to others?"

I will keep you posted as I go farther into implementing Facebook strategies and go deeper in building relationships with my clients, friends and prospects. Facebook is NOT a get-rich-quick strategy. It will take time, but I truly believe that it will become a great source of repeat and referral business into the future of my business. I am planting seeds and watering and nuturing them and over time I will reap the harvest.

Be consistent in your daily and weekly activities and you will see the results!

Are you on Facebook?

What strategies are you currently using?

Have you closed any transactions generated from Facebook?

Please post a comment below.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Also, if you've never heard of ActiveRain, you are REALLY missing the boat. What an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.

What If Your Business Was Being Followed?

2010-01-19T15:23:00.008-05:00

What would you be thinking if you got a phone call from a producer from a national TV network saying they wanted to send a camera crew out to film you by following you around in your business 24/7 for the next 90 days?

You may be thinking...

"Bring it on"...

"Oh, I can't do that"...

"You mean I actually have to work?"...

"What have I got to lose?"

There are probably many different thoughts that would run through most agents' heads if they were given that proposal. Yet, if your real estate business is not running on all cylinders, why isn't it?

If you were to accept this 90-day challenge, 3 things would probably happen:

You would START doing the things you say you need to do.
You would STOP doing the things you know you shouldn't be doing.
You would MAKE monumental performance gains and change your life.

The next 90 days could make a phenomenal impact on your business, your life.

You don't actually have to worry about a national news camera crew following your every move, but you can challenge yourself or team up with another agent to have a contest. You could have an accountability partner that you check in with every day to measure each other's results.

You do need to have a prize for the winner, yet hopefully both of you would be much better off and your businesses running much better that you'd both be winners.

Anyone can sprint hard for 90 days in a row.

Just PLAN-DO-REVIEW. Run your business in 90 day cycles and see how focused you become by fine-tuning your activities each 90 days. It will allow you to acclimate much quicker to any market changes.

To your success,

Dan

Click ActiveRain Real Estate Network - It's Free!
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Are You Open To A Shift In Your Thinking?

2009-12-29T01:29:00.008-05:00

I've decided to make a shift in my thinking and in my business plan for 2010.

It's a very subtle change in mindset!

While designing my 2010 business plan, I had a crazy thought! I asked myself "What's the difference between setting monthly goals for closings versus pendings?"

When working on business plans in the past, I've always focused on number of real estate closings I wanted to have each month. For some reason, now it appears more passive.

But this time, I wondered...what if I were to focus on getting pendings? It seems to keep me more in the present. It helps me stay in the mode of continuing to generate new business.

Always generate leads before servicing them!

When your mind is focused on closings, you're doing a lot of servicing of your buyers and sellers from pending to closing and that can take you off track of doing what you need to do to have a consistent business model month after month.

There's also more chances that a closing may not happen, so if you tie up all of your time trying to get it closed and it doesn't happen, just think of all the lost opportunities of putting together other transactions.

In today's market, you have to increase your numbers to get more transactions closed. In the past, you may have needed to average 2.5 or 3 pendings to get 2 closed. Now you may need 4 or 5 pendings to get 2 closed.

2 questions to ask yourself each day:

What can I do today to get another PENDING in (month)?
Who can I call today to get another PENDING in (month)?

I've thought about this in my head and also repeated it to myself out loud and it seems to make sense.

I'm going to make this change to my business plan this year and see how it works out.

In 2010, focus on the number of PENDINGS you have at any given time!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this idea. Please post a comment here and share your opinion.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Please join my Facebook Fan Page today!

I'm SHOCKED...or Should I Be?

2009-12-15T18:06:00.004-05:00

I sent out a short survey last week and got many responses.

I want to thank you if you filled yours out.

If you haven't had a chance to take 1.5 minutes to fill it out, it's not too late. Just click survey link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GZHFM87

One of the questions asked in the survey was:

Have you completed your 2010 business plan?

I was SHOCKED by the response!

As of this moment, 80.6% of the agents said 'NO'.

Now the holidays are almost here and people are easily distracted, so that's one excuse.

Maybe some agents wait until after the holidays and New Years Day to work on their business plan.

Yet I wonder how many of the 80% will even get around to writing their business plan at all.

But then I asked myself should I really be surprised?

Real estate sales is a numbers business, where you have to do the activities and then track your results.

If you're not doing either, then you're probably doing no where near the amount of business you COULD be doing!

A simple, written business plan is a POWERFUL tool in helping you achieve your goals and dreams.

Without a business plan, it's like you're sitting in a boat in the middle of the ocean without a GPS system. You don't know where you're headed and you'll probably never get there. You may pick up a few listings or buyers by accident, but you'll continue to be 'lost at sea'.

A business plan that you personally write and decide which target markets you want to focus on can help you stay focused on what you need to do every day, so that you don't get off track.

I believe there's too many business plans floating around in the industry are far too detailed and laborious to follow.

If you're earning $500,000 - $1,000,000 per year in commissions and have a large team, then there's nothing wrong with using a more detailed business plan. Yet for most agents, simple is better!

I have my main goals and target markets selected for 2010. I'm working on designing a simple, 2-page business plan that I can laminate and review every morning and every night.

My business plan includes:

income/transaction goals
database size goal
daily/weekly activities
monthly transactions goal
my top 4 target markets
periodic rewards when hitting my goals
2010 year-end vision for my business

Finally, I believe that by just having and following a business plan can help you stay on track to do at least an additional 15% - 25% more business, because you'll have fewer lost sales falling through the cracks.

Is Your Listing Presentation Good Enough?

2009-12-08T14:38:00.005-05:00

If you were going up against the number one agent in your market, how would you feel about your listing presentation?

Would you be ready to take them on?

Here's 5 components of a winning listing presentation:

Pre-Listing Call - When you schedule your listing appt, let the seller know you need to ask them a few questions to prepare for your appt. The more information you know about the seller and their situation, the better chance you have of getting the listing. You may also find out that you don't want the listing.
Home Preview - If you do a one-step listing appt, ask the seller to allow you to preview their home yourself as a buyer would. Then take notes of highlights and items that need to be addressed.
Market Statistics - When you sit down with the sellers, it's important to educate them on the entire market, their community market and then their home in comparison to the market. Never get into comparable pricing until they have an understanding of the entire market conditions.
Pricing - It's real important when sharing the active listings and recent pendings and closings that this is what the market is bearing in price...it's NOT your opinion! Make sure the seller understands that. It's not your opinion of what the list price and eventual sale price will be, it's the market's opinion.
Marketing Plan - I always save my marketing plan for last, because if any of the prior steps cause a roadblock and either of us doesn't want to move forward and work together, then I don't have to waste my time on this step.

So once you have designed your listing presentation into a flip chart or PowerPoint presentation, it's time to practice, practice, practice. When it comes out naturally and free-flowing, it won't be considered canned and you'll exude a lot of confidence...no matter who you're up against.

One final thought...never assume you're the only agent doing a listing presentation. Even if you are, don't take shortcuts in your presentation. Every seller deserves your best and it will show.

Don't Stop Activities While Planning!

2009-12-01T23:12:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it's Dec. 1st already? Where did the year go?

Well, during this month, many real estate agents take time to re-evaluate their business plans. While this is good to do, you have to be careful not to fall into the dangerous trap of something called "Prospecting Neglect".

Because of all the distractions this time of year, it's easy to "forget" to the important activities while you're thinking of ways to improve your 2010 business.

So, it's real simple.

You need to write down 3 action steps that you'll commit to doing every day, Monday through Friday. If you can get them all done in the morning, all the better. They can be:

making your prospecting calls
working on updating your clientbase
continuing to show listings

Even if you work on your action steps between now and Wed, Dec. 23rd, you'll be ahead of many agents when 2010 comes rolling in. The holiday season is a time when many people are enjoying all of the parties and shopping, etc, but work on helping those clients, who want to take advantage of a great buyer's market. Serious sellers have their properties on the market over the holidays. You should help sell them.

So, if you're finding out that most people aren't interested in doing anything now, that's okay....you're building list of clients, who will be ready to buy or sell after the 1st of the year.

Do all of your daily action steps each morning and then you'll have every afternoon and evening to work on your business plan as well as take some time out to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.

The Answer Is Easy...Work Your Plan!

2009-11-24T15:18:00.005-05:00

Do you have any real estate books, tapes, CDs or DVDs that are sitting on your shelves or in your drawers?

What are you doing with them?

I know...probably nothing.

You briefly think about them...you glance at them from time to time when you walk by...you say to yourself "I'll get around to it."

Well, it's time to stop neglecting these income-producing ideas.

9 out of every 10 ideas work...if you make the effort to implement them. If you work the idea, it will work!

You've probably got real estate training programs in your office that if you just started implementing them, instead of letting them continue gathering dust, you could earn an extra $5,000...$10,000...$50,000 more income in a given year.

So what's stopping you?

...distractions?

...not wanting to learn a new strategy?

...don't have time to change?

...wonder if the ideas really work?

...money is tight?

I've been there before...I know what you're going through. But in this ever-changing market, you must adapt and take action or you'll be left behind and your business will die.

You need to focus on mastering 3 - 4 target markets for your prospecting division of your business.

Don't be a 'jack-of-all-trades' real estate agent. When I hear an agent say that they do residential, new construction, farm land, commercial, etc., I think to myself "They can't be good at all of that."

Focus your business on 3 - 4 niche markets and DOMINATE them! Design them...master them...delegate them and put them on auto-pilot.

Determine which 2 target markets have recently earned you the best R-O-I (return of investment) on your money and research how others are doing it. Study their ways of implementation and see how you can improve your system. Sometimes just tweaking it can bring you much better results.

Go deep in really looking at your systems to see how you can make it the best it can be. Constantly test different strategies to see which ones provide the most results.

Once you have your 2 target markets up and running and on auto-pilot (you have the steps to the system in place and they are put into your weekly schedule), then select another target market from your resources materials laying around your office.

Test and delegate tasks that you're not good at to someone else. If an assistant can completely implement a system and help return a profit to you without much 'behind the scenes' effort, then by all means do it.

Your real estate business needs to be in constant motion...you can't rest on your laurels and expect business as usual. Target markets change...different price ranges get hot and cold...technology is constantly evolving. By targeting fewer prospecting strategies, you'll be able to master them better as well as your time.

Don't wait another minute to get started - Act Right Now!

Quit making excuses! Quit being distracted!

Plan your day and focus only on your self-imposed activities!

You are soley responsible for your success!

Send me an email to dan@danweis.com telling me which target markets you plan to focus on in 2010.

It will remain anonymous.

To your success,

Dan

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Real Estate Referrals, Marketing Ideas & More!

Is Your Business Where You Want It To Be?

2009-11-16T23:22:00.005-05:00

The past 12 months have been tough times for many agents across North America and beyond. Yet, not every real estate agent has struggled. Some agents have maintained their consistent sales pace from previous years, while others have exploded.

How can there be such a wide gap between the struggling agents and the top-profiting agents?

Part of it comes down to the fact that the top-profiting agents take charge of their business. They have the necessary skills (or take time out to learn and implement those skills) to survive and even thrive in the current market.

The real estate market is in constant fluctuation. By continuing to apply marketing and advertising strategies that worked in the past, your business will only stand still. Successful agents who go back to doing the basics and add some new and innovative strategies will fly by you.

There are still some tried and true methods that will keep on working today, but you have to be focused on how the younger generations communicate and want to serviced. There are fundamental differences between the baby-boomer generation and Gen X'ers and Gen Y'ers. The technology explosion has left some agents way behind and they'll never catch up.

You must constantly be in learning mode. Reading books, viewing online articles and attending seminars are a few of the ways to improve your business. Then as you learn, you need to apply what you've learned. You must take at least 30 minutes of every day to learn and apply something new.

Some agents think they know it all and don't need to keep learning. I hope you're not one of them. I believe that constant and never-ending learning from the successes and failures of other top-profiting agents will shorten my learning curve by years.

What you need to strive towards in your real estate business is buidling a predictable, duplicatable business plan that will be your road map for achieving your goals. If you stay the course and consistently do the numbers in your plan, you will achieve success in your real estate business. Don't fool yourself though...you have to do the numbers. Your results will be measured by your numbers!

Will you make mistakes and fail sometimes? YES! If you never failed, you won't go very far in life! Fail your way to the top! It's been said that failure just means your idea didn't work this time and now you just need to find another way to make it work.

Do you really want to know the difference between you and someone earning $100,000 or more per year?

Successful agents are willing to do what other agents are not willing to do on a consistent basis. They do the simple, repeatable, basic tasks over and over and over again. They follow their business plan...they tweak it when necessary...they focus on their strengths and delegate their weaknesses to other who are more proficient in those areas.

Do you want 2010 to be your best year ever? I know it sounds cliche, but you CAN do it. IF you commit to a plan, focus on it today...complete your daily activities (as hard as they may be until you get better at doing them)...review your results...make corrections...and do it all again tomorrow, you WILL achieve your goals!

How Are You Adapting To Market Changes?

2009-11-10T12:02:00.005-05:00

Have you heard about working smarter versus working harder?

Over the past 2 years, your real estate market has probably gone through many changes...falling prices, many foreclosures and short sales, most zero down loans disappeared, financing industry going through major changes. The question is have you adapted to the changes or just put your head in the sand?

It seems like there's something new to learn almost every day in the real estate industry and it's important to make sure that you keep up with those changes or over time you'll be left behind.

I've taken 16 hours of continuing education courses over the past 2 weeks. Many strategies learned have been refreshers from the past and there have also been new ones to test out.

What I've discovered is you can never stop learning. I spend at least 30 minutes each day (often times more) reading articles that interest me to improve my real estate business.

One of the great learning resources that's only been around for the past several years is ActiveRain. If you haven't heard of ActiveRain, here's the essence of its purpose:

it's a great real estate forum and resource center
you can read posts from agents and others from around North America
there are 100's of groups that talk about niches, like Facebook Tips, etc
your posts can be picked up in the search engines (Google loves ActiveRain)
you can gain points by posting, commenting on posts and inviting others
you can post articles for consumers to read (localism.com)
you can send and receive referrals from agents and other professionals
consumers can find you, follow you and, if interested, contact you to help them
there are optional fee services, like advertising and getting an outside AR blog

I'd recommend just checking it out. It's free!

To join, click on this link: ActiveRainRegistration

To your success,

Dan

Are You Following These 2 Success Philosophies?

2009-11-03T17:28:00.004-05:00

Real estate agents have a myriad of skill sets to learn as they build their businesses. There's prospecting - database management - buyer & seller presentations - negotiating, and so much more.

With these skill sets, there comes learned knowledge and activity knowledge.

You may be asking yourself "How can I achieve more in less time?"

Well, these 2 powerful philosophies will help you:

1) Be "Education-Focused" - Study and learn from others who have been or are currently doing what you want to achieve. Whether it's reading books or online articles, attending seminars, or one-on-one coaching, you can really cut down your learning curve by studying from others who can show you what has worked and what didn't work for them.

2) Be an "Action Implementer" - If you only read about a great strategy and never use it, what have you achieved? Will you be great at doing it the first few times? NO!!! But you have to keep at it to improve your skill set. Fail your way to success! As you increase your repetitions, you'll get better at it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. We've all made mistakes throughout life. Are you sometimes afraid to pick up the phone and make a call? Sure you are. We all have been at one time or another. But "Top-Profiting" agents keep doing it until they are proficient enough at it to make it a proven system in their business.

So take an allotted amount of time out of each day to learn a new strategy and then take the time to put it into action. Remember, "you don't need to get it perfect, just get it started".

Will You Fall For The Seasonal Slow Down?

2009-10-27T14:51:00.012-04:00

With the tradition of Halloween coming up this weekend, it got me to thinking about how the months of November and December are full of distractions for the typical real estate agent.

There is:

gift shopping
holiday parties
family gatherings
vacation get-aways
hanging out at the mall
taking time off to unwind

Now the reality is Thanksgiving is really only a 4+ day holiday weekend and Christmas and New Years Day with the days in between seems to be 2 weeks. But there are still another 40+ days during that time where most people still work at their jobs. I understand that it's easy to fall into the trap of "taking it easy during the holidays", but the holidays aren't for 2 solid months.

You don't want to be "dead in the water" come January 2, 2010. The action steps that you take over the next 60 days will propel you into 2010 with closings in January, February and March. Otherwise, you may not get your first closing of the year until March or April. That's a killer on checkbook!

It can be tough to be consistent throughout an entire year, but by following a business plan that you can tweak along the way, you'll hopefully find yourself in a better financial position of not being behind the 8-ball.

So a couple of steps I'd recommend taking right now are to:

review your business plan. If you don't have one, design a simple one for starters and build on it.
determine where your buyer and seller transactions came from the past year or two.
figure out which strategies generated ZERO commission dollars and stop doing them for now.
take your top 2 or 3 business strategies and become an expert in them - maximizing your results.

Now is the time to re-focus on your business plan and goals, so that you can get a jump start on 2010.

To your success,

Dan

Join ActiveRain Real Estate Network - FREE
Real Estate Referrals, Marketing Ideas & More!

Are You Familiar With The "WIIFM" Test?

2008-12-17T00:09:00.002-05:00

Before you try a strategy or do something for a client, do you give it the "WIIFM" test?

"WIIFM" stands for "What's In It For Me?"

You have to look at how something will be perceived by your client. Is it something that makes you look good or does it benefit the client? Is it obvious to the client that it benefits them?

Here is a great way to restructure your marketing and advertising dollars from just being expenses to putting your systems into profit mode.

Write down every strategy you used this year that was an expense to your real estate business.

The goal here is two-fold: (1) to provide value to your clients and (2) to do it at little or ZERO cost to you.

As you look at each item, determine the amount of money you spent on it and how much income did it bring you. Did you lose money on it, break even or make a profit?

Don't do strategies just because your clients want you to do them...if they aren't effective and increasing your business.

During this time of year, agents are often solicited to buy music CDs, calendars, pens, magnets, etc. You need to determine if these items are really keeping your name in front of your clients.

How many homes have you shown, where the refrigerator magnet was not of the agent who has the home listed?

If you want to revamp your business and focus on your clients, try brainstorming and really think about "WIIFM" - What's In It For Me (your client). Everybody, us included, is always thinking about our own needs first. So, think about what you can give to your clients that will be of value to them.

Here's one idea I just started using myself:

The www.lowesrealtorbenefits.com program.

Your client receives a periodic e-newsletter from Lowe's with your contact info on it...you can have Lowe's send a 10% off coupon to your client...you can buy discounted gift cards.

So before you add a strategy to your business system, see if it passes the "WIIFM" test.

If December is a slow month...

2008-12-10T10:23:00.003-05:00

If December is a slow month for you, will you....

A) focus more on shopping for presents?
B) attend more parties and drink more egg nog?
C) work on your 2009 businesss plan?
D) keep in touch with clients and continue to list and sell?
E) all of the above

The best answer is (E). You can do all of the above. You just need to prioritize your time better and work when you're working and play when it's personal time.

Many of us tend to look at our business cycles from Jan. to Dec., because of tax season.

I think that's a dangerous thing to do, because if your sales typically slow down this time of year, it's easy to get depressed, distracted and lose some confidence in your business.

I choose to look at my business through a quarterly cycle. I make a business plan for every 3 months. Now usually there aren't significant changes to it, but when changes are needed, I am then quicker to respond and not fall behind.

You need to be looking at your first quarter plan right now.

Are you where you want to be in your real estate business?

What are your biggest concerns or fears about your real estate business right now?

You may have more than one issues and that's OK to list too.

Take a couple of minutes and reply to my e-mail dan@agentsuccesscoach.com and write down what's really holding back your business right now.

What I want to accomplish here is to find out what your concerns and roadblocks are and then I'll come up with some answers and post them anonymously for everyone to benefit from.

I won't list your name, so your privacy will be respected.

I believe this can be a great learning experience for everyone.

The reality is...we're not in competition with each other, but only with ourselves. The more we learn from each other and take action on the ideas that work, the more skilled and compensated we all will become.

I've always believed and continue to believe that there's enough business to go around for everyone who's willing to work for it. The more business we do, the less business there is for those who shouldn't be in real estate in the first place.

So, before you click off this post, click on my email dan@agentsuccesscoach.com and share with me what some of your concerns and struggles are right now. What is it that your need to get better at doing? Which parts of your business need the most help.

Do You Feel Lost At Sea In A Storm?

2008-12-03T12:46:00.005-05:00

Most real estate agents have never been in a real estate market like this.

How you react to it will determine your success or failure.

Now is the time that many real estate agents start working on their next year's business plan.

Look at which target markets, i.e. expireds, fsbos, relos, REOs, client base, etc., provided you with the most business. Then analyze the info to see how you can improve your systems. In this market, it's better to be an expert in fewer niches than a generalist in many. You should really focus on improving your skills in 3 - 4 target markets and truly master them.

Review at any transactions that fell through as well as prospects that were actively looking, but didn't buy. Figure out what you could have done differently to keep the deals alive and closed.

Look at what steps you should add to keep buyers from slipping through your fingers. Did you not keep in close enough contact with them? Did you have a buyer consultation with them first? Did they not listen to your advice?

It's often said that you can't bring a dead plant back to life. Well, old leads are usually dead leads. But you can learn from it. Take some time to put new strategies together to convert more of the buyer leads you're getting. Improve your skills by asking better questions, go deeper with your questions. Show people that you really care about helping them. Nobody likes to be sold, but if someone takes a real interest in you, you normally pay attention to that.

A well-rounded business plan also include marketing and advertising programs. Look at which programs provided actual leads and were profitable to you. Don't advertise in magazines solely to appease your sellers. You need to either put that money elsewhere or improve your ads to be more direct-response; driving leads to you. In my opinion, over 90% of all magazine real estate ads are a waste of money. But when done correctly, you can generate leads from time to time.

Now it's time to pull out all of your receipts for everything you spent money on. Go line by line and ask yourself, "Did this item make me a profit or was it money down the drain?" You need to let go of marketing and advertising that aren't bringing you a return on your money. Now, I didn't say to cut out all of your spending and go hide in a hole. But you need to look at which expenses are really necessary to help your business continue to grow.

One other thought: as you go through this process, you may want to bounce some ideas off your broker, manager or fellow agent, whose opinion and experience you trust.

Where do you want your numbers to be this year? Don't listen to all of the naysayers out there. There's enough business for those who really want it and will work for it. Do you want it?

In the end, you need a road map to know where you're going in these challenging times. Review your business plan every day. It will help keep you focused. Do the activities consistently and the results will come.

What Are You Dreaming About Today?

2008-11-24T01:38:00.022-05:00

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!

2008-11-18T21:20:00.011-05:00

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!

2008-11-12T01:10:00.004-05:00

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'?"

2008-11-04T21:20:00.006-05:00

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.

Let's Simplify The '3-Foot Rule' For More Business!

2008-10-28T12:18:00.003-04:00

You walk by real estate prospects all day long and you usually don't even think about it. We all do.

Sometimes, you have other things on your mind or you don't want to bother them.

Here is a real simple way of adding value to someone by using your business cards.

Whether you're pumping gas or in a checkout line at a store, make eye contact with someone and say a simple phrase: "Hi, I'm Dan, the Cincinnati Real Estate Guy. If you ever have a real estate or mortgage question, I'd love to help you. Here's my direct line and email address."

Obviously, say your own name instead of mine. But I'd love the extra business. :)

We all change or lose phone numbers and emails over time. You can even write short notes to your long-time clients and include a new business card for them to keep.

It's a subtle way to introduce yourself and not force real estate down their throat.

Are you going to leave your business cards in their box or pass them out and make some money?

We all miss opportunities every day, me included.

Why not grab a stack of business cards and put them in your car. Then set a goal of passing out 5 business cards every day when you're out in public. Do that 5 days a week for a year and you've passed out over 1,000 cards.

Do you think you'll get any business from it? Absolutely!!!

Nervous or afraid of confrontation? Then find one person each day. You can do it. Real estate is a contact sport.

Some people will even ask you questions on the spot and that's a great way to get their contact information, so you can follow up with them.

Now, go out and consciously do it and share your results with me. Reply to this post in the "comments" section and tell me how it worked for you. I challenge you. I'm doing it too.

Have You Ever Heard "You're So Lucky"?

2008-10-21T14:24:00.004-04:00

I was recently talking with a gentleman about his real estate business and he said that his business was 'way down'.

He didn't know if he could stay in real estate. His cash reserves were running low and without any closings on the horizon, he didn't know what he was going to do.

I asked him about his options for a job outside of real estate and he said "Real estate is pretty much all I've ever done and I wouldn't know where to find something else."

He said to me, "You're so lucky! You've always got things happening."

I told him "It hasn't been easy for me either, but I live by a quote my dad told me many years ago when I was a teenager."

My dad would always say "The harder you work, the luckier you get!"

In today's world, I think you also have to add "the harder and smarter you work"...

It's true, the harder and smarter you work at something, the better you get at it and the easier it appears to others. The people, who aren't doing anything, will always think you're just lucky.

They don't see:

the prospecting calls you make
the hours each night that you spend studying and reading to improve yourself
the goals and affirmations that you take time to review each day
the mistakes you make, but then learn from and correct
the practicing and preparation of your buyer & seller presentations
the hours upon hours of fine tuning your business systems

Selling real estate is a contact sport and you need to work on your real estate business day after day. Don't ever think you know it all, because you can't. There's always change in the market and only those who change with the market and adapt the strategies that work will survive.

If you're struggling a little bit in your business right now, take a look at what you're doing and not doing in your real estate business. What changes can you instantly make to improve your situation? Sign up for a continuing education course that looks interesting. Call some of your inactive clients and see if you can help them with anything right now. There are lots of things you can do to turn your business around. There's plenty of business available for those who want to find it!

So the next time, someone tells you "You're so lucky!", just tell them, "Yes, the harder I work, the luckier I get!".

Save Gas & Time When Showing Homes!

2008-10-14T12:27:00.002-04:00

Do you ever show homes in an area you're not that familiar with? Do you need a map to not get lost in front of your clients?

Well, I recently came across a cool web site that will save you time and gas when you're out showing properties.

It's called www.IdealRoute.com and it's a free service.

You just enter the property addresses that you're going to show and it assembles the best route and maps out the directions on how to get from one property to the next.

The site was created by the Virginia Association of Realtors for its members, but it can be used all over the country.

It's so easy to use. It's takes just 2 steps. Enter the addresses and click on "Calculate Fastest Route".

There's even a YouTube Video Tutorial to help you.

Try it out the next time you have a client that wants to see 4 or 5 properties. You may even want to copy and paste the directions to your clients in an email, so they know the order of the homes you'll be looking at.

Finding Diamonds In Your Own Back Yard!

2008-10-07T17:16:00.005-04:00

Do you remember the story of the man, who searched the world, looking for diamonds his entire life, but after he died, diamonds were discovered on his own field?

In which part of the country do you know the most about real estate?

In your own city?

In your own community?

In your own neighborhood!!!

Are you sharing your wealth of real estate knowledge with those closest to you?

Do you want to connect with more of the homeowners in your neighborhood?

Here's what you do.

Schedule a "Neighborhood Name" Real Estate Update Event:

share market values with homeowners
bring your preferred lender to talk about the financial markets
bring your handyman/contractor to talk about maintaining home values
bring your insurance agent to talk about adequate insurance coverage

See where I'm going here?

If the neighborhood has a pool area or clubhouse, send out flyers for an event from 6:30 - 8:00 on a weeknight. Have other speakers bring drinks and snacks.

If you don't live in a specific neighborhood, then select one that's near you.

This way people get to meet and feel comfortable with you and they will be more likely to consider hiring you when they're ready to buy or sell.

Tell me what you think!

Go ahead and set one up and let me know how it goes.

You may get some immediate business or maybe in the spring, but it's a great way to add to your database.

ALERT: 2008 Isn't Over...Yet!

2008-09-30T09:58:00.001-04:00

We still have one quarter left on 2008!

Some trainers are already talking about preparing to build your business in 2009.

WHOA!

We still have 3 months in 2008 - a whole quarter of the year left. Don't write this time off!

This reminds me of the "Holiday Advertising Season". Each year, stores get out their holiday season decorations earlier and earlier. I mean, it's ridiculous.

Count these numbers out loud! Go ahead!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 -55 - 56 - 57 - 58 - 59 - 60 - 61 - 62 - 63 - 64 - 65 - 66 - 67 - 68 - 69 - 70 - 71 - 72 - 73 - 74 - 75 - 76 - 77 - 78 - 79 - 80 - 81 - 82 - 83 - 84 - 85 - 86 - 87 - 88 - 89 - 90

These are the number of days left between now and the end of the year. That is a lot of days to just glide through, have missed opportunities on and to lose them forever. Each day is just as important as the next.

How many listings and sales can you achieve in the next 90 days?

What you do in the next 90 days will affect today's income as well as into 2009.

I know it can be easy to get side-tracked over the next 30 - 60 days in anticipation of the upcoming holidays and parties, but now is when you have to "grind it out" - work harder, smarter and stay focused on your daily business activities.

So, review your business plan and determine what you have to do to stay on track to keep your income flowing. You may traditionally do different activities this time of year, like talk to more family, friends and clients that you like. See what's going on in their lives right now. When they know you care about them, they'll pay more attention to you and give you an opening to talk about your business. You can then tell them about the great buyer's market we're in.

The harder and smarter you work during these last three months of 2008, the better prepared you'll be for 2009. You will have sustained momentum that will keep you way ahead of most other agents in your area.

While other agents slow down, because of the upcoming holidays or the economy or they're just tired, it's time for you to push forward, because there are still people, who need to buy and sell properties in this market.

There's nothing wrong with taking some time off over the holiday season, but make sure when it's time to work you're working. Stay focused on achieving your goals and completing your daily activities.

Make yourself proud on January 1st when you look back to all that you achieved over the previous 90 days...and not have to ask yourself, "If I had only...?"

Go get 'em!

"I Want The Truth!"...Can Sellers Handle It?

2008-09-22T23:49:00.005-04:00

It's now officially the "Fall" season and no matter what your market conditions are, it's more important than ever to keep your home sellers updated on what's happening in their local real estate market.

Have you had any listings for 3 to 6 months or longer?

How are you communicating with your sellers?

It was probably easier in the beginning to pick up the phone and call them every week, but as time goes by and their home just sits on the market with no end in sight, here are some ideas to put into action:

Are you communicating in your seller's preferred method of communication...by phone or e-mail? Are you contacting them each week with an update? Sellers want to know what's happening. Also, share information with them about what's happening in the financial markets and how that's affecting the ability of home buyers to be approved for mortgages.
Set up an e-mail program in your MLS system that can send them information on new listings, new pendings and new solds. If that's not possible, you may do it yourself or out-source it. Let your sellers see what their competition is and see what's selling and for how much. When they review the information for themselves, then they believe it more than if you 'told' them the statistics.
Schedule appointments to view 4 - 5 homes with your sellers that are closest in features, location and price to your seller's home. How do they compare? Do you need to get a price adjustment? Tell your sellers that buyers are looking at more homes now than in the past. They even look at homes on the Internet before ever getting into their car and if your listing doesn't show well online, you won't be getting a phone call for a showing.
Take another close look at your listing (first without your sellers there) and imagine that it's someone else's listing. How would you critique it? Is it tired and full of furniture? Does it need a fresh coat of paint and wallpaper removal? Would it look sharper with updated light fixtures and more? Then have a heart-to-heart with your sellers about what they can do to make their home stand out above their competition.
Ask them..."Do they REALLY need to sell right now?" If the answer is NO, take their home off the market. In my area, we have a 9+ months supply of homes for sale. That's twice the average of a 'balanced' market. With so much for sale, only the most appealing, best-showcased and 'bargains' are selling.

These are a few ideas that can help your seller better understand what they're up against. If they watch the news, they know the media's take on our housing situation, but local market conditions do vary. A person's perception of how things are is their reality. If it causing them to believe things aren't really the way they are, it's your job to show and tell them what's really happening in the market.

Hurricane Ike Strikes The Midwest!

2008-09-16T22:13:00.004-04:00

Even though we didn't get any rain in the greater Cincinnati area, the 40 - 60 MPH winds with gusts of over 70+ MPH still did plenty of damage.

Two days after the remnants of Hurricane Ike's winds and over 500,000 homes and businesses are still without power. We were fortunate enough to get power back on in our home last night with one more outage overnight...not sure when it came back on, just glad it did.

Fortunately, the rains didn't come with the wind or in addition to lots of roofing and siding damage and fallen trees throughout the area, you could have added flooded basements to the list.

You don't realize how much electricity plays into every day life. We all take it for granted.

This got me to thinking about emergency preparedness for my family, my home and my business.

For this tip, I want to mention some strategies that can help keep your business afloat in the short-term:

Make sure that you consistently back up everything on your computer.
Use a software program like Top Producer, that's web-based, so that you have access to your files and client data anywhere you go online.
Contact your active sellers and see what immediate needs they have that you can handle for them. If you have vacant listings, you need to visit them ASAP to make sure they're OK.
Contact your buyer prospects, depending on the severity of the community damage, and let them know what's happening. Some listings have been damaged, so before showing homes again, make sure the showings you schedule aren't damaged homes.
Always have some cash stashed away in a "tin can". Many times banks and ATMs can be shut down without electricity and there may be no way to get money.
In a more severe setting, where Mother Nature has destroyed a lot of homes, know that the displaced people will need temporary or long-term rental properties until they get back on their feet.
Build an Emergency Fund equivalent to 3 - 6 months of living and business expenses, so that if you have a major destruction of property in your area, you'll be able to survive, because the bills will keep coming in the mail.

These are just a few of the things that you need to think about and plan for ahead of a major storm or other natural catastraphe. May you never need to experience one, but follow the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared!

Are You Lost in a Sea of Agents?

2008-09-09T11:08:00.004-04:00

I recently read about an agent, who had run into 'bad luck' lately with prospects.

He was showing home after home to several, different prospects, but no one was buying. They would look at 20 - 30 homes and then disappear. Some would buy a home from a different agent.

It got me thinking.

Whenever you have a problem, is it because you aren't using a system in your business or is a component of your system not working properly?

In this case, the agent didn't have a system.

Here is what I would recommend:

It's very important to devise a system for your buyer prospects before you spend countless hours and dollars on them.

Are they motivated to buy now?

Are they pre-approved by a reputable lender?

You need to schedule a consultation with them before you head out to show them properties. Sit down with them, preferably at your office, and review the home buying process with them. Find out their needs and what concerns they have about the process. Then share with them how you work and the benefits they'll gain by hiring you to be their agent.

Then make sure that they have been pre-approved for a mortgage that they understand and will be comfortable with its terms. If you don't have a preferred mortgage consultant that you've worked with over time and can recommend, make sure you talk with the lender they've selected and find out the details about the mortgage they are recommending to the buyer. When possible, ask for a Good Faith Estimate or a breakdown of closing costs and fees associated with the mortgage.

Then set the buyer up to receive new listings by e-mail. Make sure they closely review each listing before making an appointment to view it. Many times there are things about a property that will disqualify it in their mind or they miss reading about a certain feature of the property that would have eliminated it from consideration in the first place.

Always ask continuously about which features and amenities they'd 'like to have' versus 'what they must have' versus what they'd 'never accept', i.e. in-ground pool.

Constantly pre-qualify prospects. Their wants and needs can change during the process.

You should be interviewing them as much as them deciding on you. It's really all about your mindset. People will use up your most precious resource: time. Don't let them do that if they don't meet your standards to work with. Don't put yourself in a position that you've worked with them for so long that you can't afford to lose them. They will sense that.

It's better to work with fewer, highly-qualified buyer, who know what your expectations are and appreciate your real estate expertise than to waste time and gas money driving looky-loos all over town.

When you meet with someone one-on-one and they see that you're a professional, who really cares about serving their real estate needs, you'll have a much better chance of helping them find a new home.

In today's market, whether you're working with buyers or sellers, it's all about quality clients, not quantity.

So, don't become a "commodity" among real estate agents, where consumers think that we're all alike. We're not. Constantly improve your skills by practice, education and just going out and doing it.

Are Consumers Afraid Of You?

2008-09-02T10:11:00.003-04:00

How much business are you losing, because people are afraid to talk with you?

When consumers call you from your for sale sign, attend one of your open houses, or come from a client referral, how do you handle those situations? What percentage of the time are you able to convert those prospects into closed transactions?

I believe many people still look at real estate agents as slick, pushy, or high-pressure salespeople. They try to avoid us as much as possible. They call for property information and then are ready to hang up. The Internet is a great, safe haven for consumers, because they can stay anonymous until they're ready to act.

What you need to do is change the public's perception of you.

I always tell people that I'm here to help them - consult and advise them through the process. I'm not a typical salesperson. I don't care which property they buy, but when we find the right one for them, they'll know it. My purpose is to be their advocate through the negotiating of an offer and inspection issues, if any, and to do my best to make sure that they understand which type of mortgage is best for their situation.

I don't want my clients to fall for a bad home or bad loan.

I want people to feel at ease when they talk with me. If they have their guard up, it's a lot harder to help them. If they've a bad experience with an agent in the past, get them to share it with you and show them how you're different.

A great strategy to use in getting a consumer to want to work with you is to have a consultation. Meet where they are most comfortable...at their home, at Starbucks, at your office. Share your business philosophies with them. Take them through the home buying or selling process. Update them on what's happening in the current real estate market.

No matter what type of market it is, there's always myths out there that you need to inform the consumer about. Find out about their family...where they grew up...what's happening in their life...what amenitites are important to them. Focus on getting to know them. You've obviously heard "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care".

Ask Yourself These 5 Questions Each Week...

2008-08-26T11:49:00.002-04:00

As I review each week, I look back to see how I did.

It's a part of my PLAN - DO - REVIEW sequence.

The successes, the frustrations, the activities completed...

I have a simple checklist on a 3 x 5 card that I have taped to my computer. I want to share it with you, so that you will make an effort to 'consciously' think about your week and see how you could have improved upon it.

Here's what I do on Friday afternoons for 10 - 15 minutes...

End Of Week Checklist - (Questions to ask yourself)

Have I improved myself and/or my business this week? If yes, in what areas?
What mistakes did I make that I can learn from and improve upon?
Have I done at least 1 thing each day this week that I didn't want to do, but that would help myself or my business if I did it?
What have I put off that needs to be tackled next?
What are the most important actions I need to be focusing on next week?

Prior to implementing this strategy, I would find myself going through the motions of every day real estate life...doing the tasks I enjoy and procrastinating on those that I greatly disliked.

When I made a more conscious effort to start asking myself more powerful and productive questions, better
results immediately followed.

You will be amazed at the results of this strategy when you consistently and faithfully do it each week.

You need to stretch yourself. You can complete more in the same time and watch your businesses increase in profits without putting additional time constraints on yourself.

You and I can be SO much more than we presently are.

Let's GO FOR IT!

Are you in?

Make a 1-week commitment...then a 4-week commitment...then a 90-day commitment. The longer you do it, the better and more focused you become.

Your business will take off...it'll EXPLODE!

But don't fool yourself, nothing will happen without action.

Each day, take 1 action that you REALLY want to put off.At the end of the week, read your 5-Question Checklist and write down the answers and put them in a binder. Then each week, keep adding more answers for the week.

After 90 days, look back and review your answers. If you're being honest with yourself, you should see a better Realtor in the mirror looking back at you, because you stretched yourself and did activities that you weren't previously doing.

YOU deserve amazing things and I believe in you.

Now just go DO it!!!

3 Highly-Effective Habits For Success!

2008-08-19T18:38:00.005-04:00

Is your business doing as well as you expected so far this year?

Do you find yourself not hitting your goals?

With all of the news media outlets constantly harping on negativity in the housing market, it can be easy to get distracted and think that the real estate market really is bad. Well, the reality (my reality) is "It's an incredible time to buy!" Don't get sucked into watching all of the talking news heads.

What you may be experiencing is a lack of focus in your business and life. One of the ways to help you get back on track is to develop a few routines that when done consistently every business day will increase your income, increase your confidence and put you in a great mood.

Habits are like routines. Every day, you have a routine of a series of steps you take when you wake up and when you go to bed. You don't even think about them. You do them automatically, because you've been doing them for a long time.

Everyone has habits in their business too. They may be good habits or bad habits, but we all have them. If you continually do your bad habits, then you're not going to get the results you want. One common bad habit is procrastination. You may be thinking to yourself "I can do that (task) later." The problem is when you procrastinate, you're greatly reducing your effectiveness in your business for that day. None of us get a re-do of any day in our lives.

Well, here are 3 Simple Disciplines (Habits) That Will Help You Achieve Your Goals:

Design Each Day - Have you ever heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well, by taking 30 minutes each morning before you get to work to rejuvenate yourself, you will start out refreshed and focused on the day's tasks. During this 30 minute warm-up to your day, you can read 10 pages of a good book (or an article on prospecting or negotiating, etc, something to improve your skills). If you believe in affirmations and visualization (professional athletes do this all of the time), take 5 - 10 minutes in a quiet space to do this. It's also good to do this while exercising, so you can multi-task your time.
Review Your Business Plan - Some agents have a 20-page, extremely detailed business plan. Many agents don't have a written business plan at all, while others use a simplified plan, where they know how many transactions they want to close or how much income they want to make each year. I would go a little deeper than that, because you need to break down your annual goals into monthly-weekly-daily tasks to help you achieve your goals. And most importantly, it all needs to be in writing, so that you can review the numbers and tasks each day. If you fall behind a bit, then you can look at your numbers and increase them by 20 - 25% until you catch up to where you should be. If one of your tasks is to call 10 of your clients/prospects each week, turn it into a daily action step of calling 2 people each day. Why? Because it's too easy to say "I'll get to it tomorrow." It's critical to your success to consistently do your tasks each day.
Turn Drive Time Into Learning Time - We're all so busy in life. We never seem to have enough time, but here's an ideal place to educate yourself while you're on the road. Turn off the talk radio and music stations and invest in some real estate training CDs and some motivational CDs from speakers like Paul J. Meyer, Les Brown, Zig Zigler, Jim Rohn, Anthony Robbins. You'll pick up ideas each time you listen. Listen to them several times, because you'll retain different strategies each time you listen. I love doing this and every time I get excited wondering what idea I'll learn about and put into action.

So, in closing, remember that to be successful in life, many times it's taking action on simple steps over and over again. It may seem mundane at times, but keep striving for perfection and making your skills better. We all know what's easy to do is also easy not to do. That's why you need to focus on your business plan to take you to where you want to go.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas:
ActiveRain Real Estate Network

What The OLYMPICS Has In Common with Real Estate!

2008-08-12T23:53:00.005-04:00

As I've caught peeks of watching the Olympics the past couple of nights (Michael Phelps & the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team competition), there is a lot to be learned those athletes...commitment, focus, a dream, a vision for anywhere from 5 to 15 years or more.

Tonight they mentioned that the American gymnasts start training hard for Olympics selection and competition at the age of 10, while the Chinese hand-pick girls at the age of 3 to start training.

Think about the years and years of endless training, food portion control, various injuries to work through, normal childhoods lost forever...is it worth it? Only each athlete can answer that question for themselves.

As they compete, the difference between the medalists and the rest is usually only separated by 1/100th of a second in the swimming pool or the slightest slip on the balance beam, which results in a deduction of points. I saw an American gymnast tonight miss her entry jump onto the balance beam. After she completed her routine, you could see she was holding back the tears as the cameras focused on her. Her teammates tried to console her, but you know that didn't help her much. It's the smallest of mistakes in a competition that helps decide the winner.

It gets me thinking sometimes about you and me. Are we the best we can be in real estate? It's a career where never-ending improvement and education do come into play. You never know it all. Are you presentation skills perfect? How would your listing presentation be rated by a panel of your peers? Would you earn a 9.75 or 8.25?

We are in constant competition with each other, but the reality is we're really only in competition with ourselves. By improving our own skills, we can increase our number of transactions or increase the dollar amount per transaction or ultimately, predetermine a numbers goal, which we complete in 9 months (instead of taking 12 months) and then take time off for the rest of the year. Just a thought!

What are your dreams?

What are you willing to do to achieve them?

Are you as committed as an Olympian?

Michael Phelps (has earned 5 gold medals out of 8 events so far) many years ago committed, focused and dreamed of these 2008 Olympics. His dreams are coming true. Will yours?

What you do today can change the course of your life far into the future. Today is critical. Today really counts. Live for today and do today what needs to be done to achieve your "GOLD" medals.

In real estate today, you have to be at your best in so many every day situations.

In today's markets, where many buyers are in control of which property they buy and for how much, it's critically important to make sure that your sellers know how best to prepare their property for top dollar as well as know what to expect during negotiations and inspections.

You must make your sellers aware of ALL of their options in today's buyer's market. Yes, there may be a few markets, where the seller is still king, but those are few and far between.

You are being paid to represent, counsel and negotiate for your client. Whether that's a buyer or a seller, it's important to explain as much about what will work effectively in today's market as possible. Consumers crave information. It's your job to interpret it for them and make recommendations for them to make the final decisions.

Even when there are tough situations that have to be worked through, that's part of your job. Don't back off! By recommending that a seller accept an offer now that may be less than they wanted, you could be helping your clients avoid a more serious financial distaster down the road in their life. It's not always easy, but you need to stand up for what you believe is in the best interest of your client and tell them. Then it's their decision on what they decide to do.

Be like an Olympian and strive to do your best every day. Think about walking up to the podium to receive your "GOLD" medal for yourself and your team.

To your success,
Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas:
ActiveRain Real Estate Network

A Lack Of A TEAM Is Costing You Business!

2008-08-05T23:20:00.005-04:00

An experienced team will increase your profits and increase your business and save you time!

Are you surrounded by an experienced team?

In today's market, it's imperative to have an experienced team of professionals around you. Even if you're a solo practioner without any personal assistants, you can do this.

Let's look a few people outside of your office that can be vital to having a successful real estate business:

Mortgage Consultant - You need to align yourself with a mortgage lender, who has years of experience, communicates frequently with you, and has a staff that knows what they're doing behind the scenes.

There is no such thing as an easy deal any more when a buyer gets a mortgage. It's also okay to have a couple of other lenders when a client wants a second opinion, but hopefully your preferred lender can provide quality service, competitive interest rates and timely closings.

(On a side note, you should promote experienced lenders that you work with as mortgage consultants, not loan officers. When you talk with your clients, showing that you work with a group of professionals, not salespeople, exudes confidence and can give your clients peace of mind.)

A great mortgage consultant will also save you time when you have your prospects and clients contact them to be pre-approved. If you think back in your career, there have been times when you showed homes to unqualified prospects, because you believed them when they 'said' they could get a loan, but hadn't talked to a lender yet. We've all done one time or another. Now your mortgage consultant will be able to tell you if the prospect can afford what they think they want to buy and you won't be spending gas money on a prospect's pipe dream.

Title Co. Rep - A title company is as important as a lender in making you look good or bad during a transaction. So many closing tasks happen behind the scenes and if a title rep isn't doing their job effectively, they can cause you massive headaches. You know what I'm talking about. If you don't, when you have a closing as a listing agent, you'll see which title companies are bad real quickly.

With all of the short sales and foreclosures happening in the market, your title rep can be your deal saver. Without them, you could end up with a lot fewer closings.

When's the last time you received a closing statement 5 days prior to the closing? Does your title rep order the seller's payoffs? Does your title rep ever step in and take the lead to help you eliminate the problems? A great title rep will do all of these things for you and make you look good in front of your clients.

Home Inspector - In my opinion, a home inspector's purpose is to inspect and accurately state the condition of a property to the best of their ability at the time of the inspection as well as explain the various components of the home to the buyer during the inspection. If they are unsure of something, then they should figure it out or find an expert in the particular field who can answer it. It's not an inspector's job to make you look good, but to protect the buyer's interests. The more experience an inspector has the better....a minimum of several hundred to a few thousand inspections under their belt is ideal. In my state of Ohio, we still don't have licenses for home inspectors, so I don't want my clients going through the Yellow Pages and end up finding some newbie inspector. If a property inspection reveals a bunch of latent, material defects, I want my client to know it, so they can decide if they want to move forward or not with the transaction.

These professionals need to be a part of your core team. They can help you identify, qualify and close on the properties that your clients want. I do believe in giving your clients and customers recommendations, but the cream does usually rise to the top when it's time to select the various professionals.

If you don't have a core group of professionals or only a partial group, don't rush into finding just anyone. You need to take your time, watch and build a rapport to make sure you have the best professionals surrounding your team.

There are other professionals that you can add to your core team, such as a termite inspector, insurance agent, financial planner and others. Think of who else can help and be a benefit to your clients.

It will make a difference in your business and you'll end up with a lot fewer headaches!

Who's For Real And Who's Faking It?

2008-07-29T12:59:00.004-04:00

As we approach August, many schools will be starting up again within the next 30 days. So unless consumers with children plan to move within the same school distict, a portion of the market is settled in right now and won't consider moving until next year.

It's now time to determine who your serious and motivated clients are.

When working with consumers, it's imperative to thoroughly qualify your prospects to make sure that they are financially able to make a move and want to take advantage of this great buyer's market. I believe it's better to have quality clients right now instead of quantity of clients and prospects that aren't motivated to listen to you.

Sellers, who have had their homes on the market through the summer, need to buckle down and really look at what needs to be done to get their home sold.

Here are 3 steps you need to take:

If you have active listings that aren't selling, meet your sellers with an updated CMA and discuss the current market place with them. (Hopefully, you've been keeping them updated throughout the listing period.) See if they'll adjust their listing price to get an offer on their property. Do they need a dose of reality in having their home in top showcasing condition? If their home needs some work, show them other homes on the market that you know show well, because that's what they're competing with. Your sellers need to be motivated to sell or you're just spinning your wheels going into the fall months. If they aren't serious about selling, then recommend they take their home off the market until they improve its condition or until the market rebounds. (We've all heard "It's no time to just test the market".)
Review your list of current buyers who said they want to buy a home this year and if it's been awhile since you've shown them a property, schedule a time to meet with them again one-on-one and have them re-focus on their housing goals. Find out what's most important to them. Interest rates are still great with favorable housing prices and plenty of inventory to show, so see who's ready to buy a home in this buyer's market.
Do you have any prospects that have fallen by the side over the past few months? Call them NOW and see if they are ready to sell or buy now. If not, find out when they'll be ready and keep in touch. If you have any buyers, who are waiting to buy, because their credit situation is not where it needs to be, help them by having you or your mortgage partner put them on a game plan for restoring their credit. Some buyers only need 6 - 12 months to bring their credit score back to where they can qualify for FHA/VA or conventional mortgages. Don't blow off buyer prospects that can't buy this moment! If they make a sincere effort to qualify for a mortgage, you'll have a loyal buyer when they're ready to buy in the near future.

One last question: When someone asks you about what's happening in the market based on all the news, what are you saying? Are you all gloom and doom? (It's easy to fall into that trap.) I tell them "It's a great buyer's market. Who among your family and friends do you think is next to buy or sell?"

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas:
ActiveRain Real Estate Network

It's Time To Refresh Your Listings!

2008-07-22T11:06:00.002-04:00

If you've had a listing for more than 3 months, it's time to make some 'cosmetic' changes to the MLS information.

First, look at all of your listing photos posted online.

Are there any glares or spots on them?
Are they dark, poor lighting or overcast photos?
Is there overgrown landscaping?
Are they winter photos with snow or no leaves on trees?
Too much furniture in the photos?
Is it vacant? Add some staging furniture.

Head back out to your listings with your digital camera and take tons of photos. You can even move furniture around and shoot from different angles. Do things like take stuff off the kitchen counters and magnets off the refrigerator. Then decide which ones look the best for right now and replace the old ones with the new.

Next, review your MLS remarks on each listing. Are they up to date? Are you using abbreviations that the buying public doesn't understand? If it's important, write it out. Change them around a little bit and really think about a buyer's emotional 'Hot Buttons'. Why would they want to buy your listing?

Your listings need an edge! Put your listing's best foot forward.

First impressions are very important, because if you don't motivate the buyer to salivate over your listing, they may be gone forever.

There are too many choices available for buyers right now, so do what you have to do to get them to select your listing.

Consider seller incentives, whether paying for the buyer's closing costs or pay for a temporary or permanent interest rate buy-down or paying condo fees for 6 months to one year. Ask your lender partner about how to do this. Ultimately, your listing needs to be listed in the right value range or none of this will matter. Don't offer agent incentives - how is that going to motivate a buyer? Make sure that whatever you offer that's over and above the price is legal in your area. Check with your broker, etc.

Also, where are you posting your listing besides in your local MLS system? There are many web sites that the buying public goes to in addition to the local real estate company sites.

Here's a couple to post on:

zillow.com
trulia.com
cyberhomes.com
google.com
yahoo.com
different blogs

You can also buy a domain name address for your listing, i.e. 1234MainSt.com. There are services out there that offer this type of property-specific web site.

One final point: Are your sellers motivated enough to sell? Are they being unrealistic or living in a dream world when it comes to pricing? You know in your heart if they are or not. Have you counseled them enough about how your market really is right now? Do you send them weekly updates on what's happening the market? If they need a dose of reality, it's your job to give it to them.

In most areas right now, there's still a glut of inventory for sale. If you have an unrealistic or unmotivated seller, then you should seriously consider whether or not you want to waste your time and resources on that listing. Remember, you're running a business. In order to be profitable, you need motivated buyers and sellers. I believe that quality clients are better than a lot of unqualified prospects. Make sure you take the time up front to interview and counsel prospects to see if they meet your standards. Otherwise, you'll end up spinning your wheels and going nowhere.

To your success,

Do You THINK Like A Top Agent?

2008-07-15T15:39:00.004-04:00

Do you want to be one of the top agents in your market?

If you want to become a "TOP-PROFITING", real estate agent, then you first have to think and act like one.

What does that mean, Dan?

Are you serious about wanting to list and sell several million dollars worth of real estate each year?

I mean REALLY SERIOUS......not just 'interested for the moment'?

How commited are you?

You see, it's easy to dream about it and think that one day you too can be a top agent in your market.

Even though there's always some amount of frustration at any level of business, top agents spend less time in their business than struggling agents, because they have systems in place to be able to do more transactions in less time.

People say they'd like to play golf like Tiger Woods. Oh, really? Would you be willing to do everything Tiger does and has done every day, every week, every year, for year after year?

If you got a sneak peek behind the scenes of how Tiger or any other successful professional runs their business, you'd be amazed and probably overwhelmed at laser-focused and commited they are to achieving their goals.

But the important thing to know is "They all took a first step!"

Top agents didn't become masterful overnight. It's a process...a journey.

Whether you build your business quickly or slowly, the more people you add to your team, the quicker you'll be able to achieve your goals. But beware, because you need to have a business plan in place that shows you which systems, when effectively used, will make your business profitable.

It's important to build a solid foundation first, so that your business doesn't crumble later.

When writing your business plan, you must make it system-dependent, not people-dependent. What I mean by that is you need to hire a person who can handle the tasks of the system, not build a system around a
person. People come and go. You must be able to interchangibly move people in and out of working your various systems in order to make it all work smoothly.

Top agents also are very focused individuals. When they have 1 or 2 systems in place, i.e. FSBO system or Sphere of Influence system, they work on improving the effectiveness of that system until it's running at
maximum capacity. They test-market different strategies within the system to see if they can increase their conversion rate. If they can get 2 additional clients per month by tweaking their system, that can generate tens of thousands of dollars of income over a 12-month period.

Don't try to do 5 to 10 different target markets in your business plan. You'll become a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. When you get really good and profitable at one or two systems, then look to add one additional system to the business plan.

Remember, growing your real estate business is a constant and never-ending journey. That's what I love about real estate. You never have to retire, if you choose not to. You can build a book of business (your clientele) that you can serve over the years either by yourself or with the help of a team.

Every day in real estate is a new adventure.

You never know what's going to happen and you can shape your business any way you like to make it a fun part of your in life.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas:
ActiveRain Real Estate Network

Some Powerful Quotes To Live By...

2008-07-08T23:51:00.005-04:00

I was reading my Quotes Journal (I write down quotes from others that touch me) and I got to thinking that what you allow to infiltrate into your mind, your thoughts and your sub-conscious can make a big difference in your life.

Here are some of the quotes that I live by. If I know who wrote them, I will acknowledge them.

"Some people dream of success...while others wake up and work hard at it."

Y.O.L.O. - You Only Live Once!

"If you help enough people get what they want, you'll get what you want." - Jim Rohn

"You have to be disciplined and keep your goals in front of you and know what it is that you want to accomplish."

"If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?"

"Go to seminars/conferences to be around like-minded people, who are doing what you want to do."

"Don't go to bed until you complete every task on your list from today!"

"The truth is you already know the right things to do. The hard part is doing them!"

"Decide to get it done and take action today! Don't delay another day!"

"What will get you out of bed in the morning for, when you don't want to?" (That's your WHY.)

"The key to your success is having the discipline to do the thing you must do, even when you don't feel like doing them."

"Most people give up just when they're about to acheive success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown." - H. Ross Perot

"You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event, it's a habit." - Aristotle

"Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all." - Norman Vincent Peale

"Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored." - Earl Nightingale

"The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable prerequisite for success." - Brian Tracy

"Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards. When people ask me what really changed my life eight years ago, I tell them that absolutely the most important thing was changing what I demanded of myself. I wrote down all the things I would no longer accept in my life, all the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things that I aspired to becoming." - Anthony Robbins

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant."

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you're going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus." - Oprah

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." - Og Mandino

You really need to read some of these quotes a couple of times to get the true meaning of them. They are powerful!

When the real estate market is tough, it's time to tilt your head forward and run like a bull. Avoid all of the negativity. Don't watch the news or read the newpapers. Stay focused on your goals. Tweak your marketing strategies to help get your listings sold. Continue to educate your home sellers about what's happening in their market. Are they doing everything you've asked them to do? Have you told them everything they need to do? Now is not the time to be bashful. You are their real estate expert!

There is business out there. I just listed 3 homes in the last 2 days. They are motivated sellers. I also just had another client take their home off the market after 5 weeks - they wanted to sell, but didn't HAVE to sell. Now is the time for serious, motivated sellers. If there's excess inventory in your area, when you schedule a listing appt, find out before you go if the seller really needs to sell.

To your success,

Dan

I would love to know which quotes have motivated you in your life. Please send me yours at dan@agentsuccesscoach.com.

Are You Where You Thought You'd Be?

2008-07-01T15:59:00.003-04:00

We're now at the halfway mark of 2008.

How is your year going so far?

Are you were you thought you'd be with the number of closings or dollar volume in your real estate sales?

Did you start the year out with a business plan?

If yes, but you're not where you thought you'd be, review your plan. Are you doing the strategies that were necessary to have a good year?

Is your income not keeping up with your expenses?

I read an article recently that talked about when agents earn more money, they often times end up with less of it in the end. It got me to thinking.

If you go from making $40,000 in a year to doubling it to $80,000 a year, that sounds great. But the problem is many people then trade in their Ford for a Lexus or sell their 3 bedroom home for a larger 4 bedroom home.

Unless you're paying a large percentage in cash, you're trading a little bit of debt for a larger amount of debt. In reality, you're still in debt, but at a much higher level. You're putting a financial ball and chain around your leg.

Your newfound increase in income is only giving you more stress and headaches to worry about and pay for.

Don't let this happen to you!

Work towards becoming debt-free!

Forget about instant gratification!

Get out of your monthly debt first!

Learn to live below your means and pay more things off.

It can be nice to not have 1 or 2 monthly car payments.

Sock some money away for an emergency fund.

You have the power to decide how to spend every dollar you make. You don't have to keep up with the Joneses.

Do you really want to be like everyone else? You'd be amazed at just how how fragile many families financial situations really are. Work towards building a solid foundation around you and your family.

You should also look at your business expenses. I've talked about this in the past. With the age of the Internet, digital photography, web sites, blogs, videos and audios, advertising mediums are going through a big change and expensive print advertising is one area you may be able to decrease your expenses in.

Now I'm not saying to stop all print advertising. You need to analyze what's working in your market and determine what's the best use of your marketing plan dollars.

Take a snapshot of your expenses so far this year and see if you can move your money from any ineffective areas of marketing to another area that will give you a better return on your investment.

Please don't do wasteful, ineffective marketing just because your seller wants you to. Be strong enough in your presentation to show your sellers what it really takes to sell their home in this market.

By determining the most effective way to utilize your marketing dollars, you can actually increase your business by focusing on the marketing and advertising strategies that work in today's marketplace.

Fail Your Way To Success!

2008-06-23T22:40:00.003-04:00

Are You Failing Fast Enough?

Weren't you always told as a kid that it's bad to fail? As we were told that over and over again, it became ingrained in our minds that if you can't do something well, you better not do it.

As adults, we're sometimes afraid to do things, because if we fail, we'll look stupid and incompetent. But the reality is the more you practice something, the better you'll get at it.

The reality is the only way to get better at something is to keep doing it again and again until you build up confidence in performing it well at a high level.

Professionals in any field all started in the same place in the beginning. ("This is a football." - Vince Lomabardi) But they learned, assimilated, and performed until over time they got better and now they play at a high level of skill.

In real estate, it's easy to find rejection. It's all around us. Being in sales, we all get "NO's", but what you need to realize is people aren't necessarily saying NO to you, they are just saying NOT NOW.

Think about it. We all are going to different phases of life. Most people will move 3 - 5 times during their life. You need to find out which phase of life people are in and see how you can help them. If you ask questions in the right way, they will even share their future plans with you?

Come up with a simple script that you can use when talking with people, whether on the phone or in person. How about something like, "So Bob, looking down the road, where do you see yourself moving to next time? (REPLY) Really, that's great. When might that happen?"

You're digging for information that can be useful to you at some point in the future. When you keep in touch with people over time you can find out other pieces of their puzzle and when they're ready to make a move, hopefully you'll be the person they call.

Now go get 'em!

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

Are You In Control of Your Business?

2008-06-18T15:20:00.007-04:00

You can only control two things in your real estate business - your attitude and your activity!

Attitude is so important, because life is not always fun and easy. There are disappointments and frustrations that we go through, but a good attitude will help you maintain a positive attitude through hard times.

When you find a new client, you don't know if their home will sell or if they will buy. You hope they get to closing. You take them through all of the steps to get to that point, but sometimes s---- (stuff) happens. I had a transaction this past week, where the sale fell through on my listing and the seller then couldn't buy the new home. It's back to square one, but it's a great home and I know it'll sell soon.

You don't have control over other people, but you have control over your own activity. How many appointments do you have in a typical day? What prospecting activities are you doing each day? Remember, don't focus on the results. When you're consistent in doing your daily activities, the results will come.

I watched the BIG IDEA last night on CNBC. It's a great show on weeknights at 10pm. I've posted on it before. They had John Assaraf, founder of OneCoach and associated with The Secret on the show with others.

They talked about two words: interest and commitment. Interest means you have an idea of what you'd like to do or have, etc. Whereas, commitment means you'll do whatever it takes to accomplish your vision or your dream.

Tiger Woods spent 5 grueling days (91 holes) last week playing against his doctor's orders and won the U.S. Open, on essentially one leg. That takes commitment. How many other golfers in the field would have played with a double fracture?

Do you want to know how to improve your business over the long-term?

Determine which dollar-producing activities you need to do every day (Monday through Friday) and just do them every day. Most agents, who start with a new business plan, stop doing it within a matter of days or weeks. They get too busy doing "busy work" and don't continue to do the consistent activities that will bring more transactions.

I challenge you to write down which dollar-producing activities you'll do for 90 days. Most agents won't. Then do it. Most agents won't and they're the ones complaining that real estate stinks. Don't overdo it though. Don't set yourself up for failure saying you'll make 50 calls a day, when you haven't even called 5 clients or prospects consistently a day. Set a goal and as you master it, increase the number on a weekly basis.

Every night before you put your head down on the pillow, ask yourself, "Did I complete all of my activities for today?" and "Did I do the things necessary to increase my chances of being successful?" It's got to become a habit and if you do it for 90 days, it's a habit you'll continue.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

Are Open Houses Losing Effectiveness?

2008-06-11T00:00:00.003-04:00

It depends on where your market is.

From around the country, I hear everything from 'they're a total waste of time' to 'sellers demand open houses' to 'I get lots of prospects from open houses'.

There's always a lot of discussions on this topic.

With high gas prices looking like they're here to stay, many consumers may very well decide to do more home searching on the Internet instead driving aimlessly around neighborhoods near and far.

Consumers also have busier lives and don't want to have to drive to open house after open house if they can target in on fewer properties by viewing virtual tours and photos online instead.

I believe it's more important than ever to expand the Internet presence of your listings. Put them on as many local and national web sites as possible. In addition to your own web site (you do have a personal web site, don't you? It's a must!) and your company's web site, go to other sites, like Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, Google, Yahoo and many others and post your listing information there. Make sure that you post the open house dates as well.

You also want to see how you can track the number of people visiting your various web sites, so that you can report that back to your sellers.

Some other open house strategies are:

Notify other agents with nearby listings of your open house and that you'll honor their clients.
Have a "Neighbors Only" open house for an hour on a week night right after you list it.
Reduce the open house hours down to 1 hour or 1.5 hours. (If prospects want to see the home, they'll make the time frame or call you for a private viewing.)
Ask one of your preferred mortgage lenders to attend the open house with their laptop and pre-qualify the prospects.

Again, different areas have different results to open houses. Find out what works best in your area and try some various strategies to make your open house as effective as possible.

If you've been holding open houses, please share with me what's been effective for you and I'll pass on the strategies here on my blog.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

4 Rules For Competing In Real Estate Today!

2008-06-03T15:30:00.001-04:00

Here are 4 rules that, if followed, can help you through our current market:

Expect Volatility - We're in a period of time, where we're seeing unpredictability of the market and new complexities in the real estate and mortgage industries. There are changes occurring in the marketplace monthly, and sometimes, weekly. You can be in the middle of a transaction and, all of a sudden, some mortgage guidelines change that cause your transaction to be in jeopardy. You need to inform your clients upfront, that changes are happening and that there will be bumps in the road, but that you'll be there to help them as best as possible.
Innovate or Get Passed Up - What competitive advantage do you have other other Realtors? What service guarantees are you offering to potential clients? In the sea of real estate agents, it's easy for the consumer to consider you as a commodity, just like everyone else. If you have a system that's working for you, but your competition is starting to use it, then it's time to improve upon it and take it to the next level. You must identify what's effective and what's not effective in your marketing and advertising. Implementation is important and the quicker you do it, the better. It's better to be at 80% effectiveness now than 100% right 3-6 months from now. Just get it going!
Measure Systems Performance - You need to constantly be aware of how well your business systems are working. Do parts of them need to be tweaked, because they're not doing as well as in the past? Are you still doing everything the same as you used to or have you slacked off and tried to do shortcuts? If, for example, you have a For Sale By Owner prospecting system that is not resulting in getting as many listings as in the past, you need to analyze why that's happening. Review your steps and see which step has broken down or maybe you changed it. It's a good idea every 3 months to "PLAN - DO - REVIEW". Set up the system, do it and then review the results. Depending on how intensive the system is, you may be able to REVIEW it more frequently, but you need to give the system time to work.
Constant Learning - Never think you know it all. Even after 23 years in real estate, I know there's more to learn about or ways to fine tune my skills in certain areas. Don't be a 'jack-of-all-trades' and master of none. Master the skills you do have and take it to the next level. It can be more profitable to be a big fish in the small pond than a small fish in an ocean. In professional sports, all of the players are skilled, but a few of the players are at a much higher level of proficiency than the rest. Why is that? Because they want to be better.

Don't ever rest on your laurels. It's important to have a business plan, follow it and update it as often as possible.
Follow the four steps above and you'll be a step ahead of your competition.

Are You Thinking About A Summer Break?

2008-05-28T00:32:00.003-04:00

Now that summer is approaching, when kids get out of school and family vacations start, it's important to keep your business momentum going.

Here are a few steps to help you:

* When you have a lot of pendings and you're servicing your clients, don't forget to keep prospecting in your daily or weekly routine.

* If you have listings that have been on the market for over 60 days, now may be the time to do a new CMA and discuss a price adjustment with your seller. Make your seller aware that now is prime selling time and to not make a change may cost them a sale and you a commission. Over 60 days in many agents' eyes means the property is shop-worn. See what your seller can do to spruce up their property.

* We're almost half way through the year. If you haven't kept pace with your goals, now is the time to re-analyze and focus on new goals. Many people think goals are written to never be changed. Nothing is farther from the truth. I used to believe that long-term goals were the most important, but after some recent books and speakers, I now am in agreement that short-term (daily) goals are more important, but they help you form the right success habits, which when done over and over will help you achieve your short and long-term goals.

* If you're looking for more results, look into your past and determine what strategies brought you the most success. Have you stopped doing certain activities that brought you a lot of listings and sales, but stopped doing them because you got bored or wanted to try something else instead? Go back to what works and keep tweaking it to make it better.

Save these tips in an e-mail folder for a later date and come back and read them. Take action on the tips that you feel work for you.

It's Sharing Time! What's Working For You?

2008-05-13T17:22:00.006-04:00

How is your real estate business today...this year so far?

Tell me what strategies are working for you in dealing with your buyers and sellers.

What strategies aren't working today that used to work for you?

What have you learned about your business this year?

Please share a piece of your business and I'll address your thoughts, concerns and successes in future posts (anonymously, of course).

Everybody always talks about how bad the market is, but the reality is it is a great market for home buyers.

Today's market has required us real estate agents to sharpen our skills. We have to be more knowledgeable than the consumer. You can't stop learning about the different facets of our business. It's really never-ending.

Please take a few moments and share with me what's happening in your area and your business.

Send me an e-mail at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com. I look forward to your reply!

Are You Building Momentum Through Consistency?

2008-05-06T10:34:00.004-04:00

It's hard to believe that one third of 2008 is already over.

Going from winter to spring, real estate activity has picked up.

Is it as good as 3 or 4 years ago? NO for many and YES for some.

If your real estate business isn't where you want it to be, it's because you're not doing the activities that you've done in the past. Probably not you, but I know there are agents out there who are saying "Woe is me!"..."The market is terrible!"..."Nobody is calling me!"

Well, it's time to get rid of "the stinkin' thinkin'".

Only when you take charge and do what you're supposed to do, will your business change.

It won't happen overnight, but you've got to talk with people, call your past clients, knock on some FSBO doors, go to networking luncheons, go door to door, etc.

What will happen over time is you'll build some momentum and as your momentum grows, you'll become more confident in your abilities. Everyone needs confidence, because confidence can come and go based on your consistent work ethic. Look at professional golfers, for example. Most golfers, when they play well, appear to play really well for a few weeks at a time. They may not win, but they're in the top 10 for several tournaments, then maybe they stop doing something that was working and now they can't even make the cut to play on Saturday and Sunday.

No one is exempt from needing to consistently do the activities that help them achieve their level of success. Real estate agents are no different.

When you're working with buyers, stay in touch with them more often to keep their interest level high. When you're working with sellers, keep them updated on what's happening in the market and see if they'll improve the condition of their home just little more or adjust their price, so that can get an offer that much sooner.

If you stay in neutral gear and say the right listing will appear for your buyer or you hope an agent will show your listing today, you're not doing anything to keep your momentum going.

Ask yourself, "If my competitors did the activities I did today in my business, would they have made a sale today?" If the answer is NO, then you've got some work to do. Just go do it!

Is Your Business Profiting From The Law Of Attraction?

2008-04-29T11:11:00.003-04:00

Have you ever seen the cartoons and comic strips, where the dog and its owner look eerily similar?

Well, I believe there's some truth to it.

It may not be physical (as in looks), but who you choose to hang out with (family & friends), hang around with at the office and work with as clients, is your sphere....and often times, similar traits appear. Other times, if you're stressed for long periods of time, is it really coincidental that you're also working with a lot of stressed out clients with their own problems?

In our real estate lives, we often spend half of each day dealing and communicating with our current and future clients. You could say that, collectively, we spend our much time with our clients as we do with our family and friends. So, it's important to decide to work with and help people that we get along with and who will appreciate our time and effort in helping them achieve their real estate needs.

One of the best reasons for meeting your potential clients in the office is to sit down and converse with them. Find out what their dreams and goals are...what their expectations are. Are they nice people? If after 30 minutes, you don't have a good feeling at all about them, then decide if you want them in your life, because should you agree to work with them, you'll be spending a lot of time with them and if they're negative, their emotions can rub off on you and drain you emotionally.

At my consultations, I always tell the prospective clients "I'm here to interview you as much as you're here to interview me. At the end of our time together, we both have the option to decide to work together or not. Fair enough?" It sometimes really changes the atmosphere of our meeting. It lets them know that we each have the power to decide if we want to work together and not have it be only a one-sided decision of the prospect.

So, who are you associating with?

I attended a personal development training, where Mr. John Gardner, a self-made millionaire from South Carolina and co-author of "Chicken Soup For The Entrepreneurial Soul", talked about the successful habits of many success-minded business people in history as well as the current day entrepreneurs.

One of the philosophies I learned from this training was "The Law of Association". Who are you associating with on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to improve your business skills?

It's been said by many that 'You become like the 10 people you hang around.'

Are you at the business level you desire? If not, it's never too late to start.

Take people, who you aspire to be like, out to breakfast or lunch. By asking them lots of questions and really focusing on their answers (take notes), you'll shorten your learning curve.

You may even want to ask them if you can join their team as a buyers agent or a listing agent. Think out of the box a little bit. If your business is not where you want it to be, look at different options. Joining a successful team can be a win-win for everyone involved.

The bottom line is if you don't like the people you're working for, then find some new clients.

Just thoughts to ponder!

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

Is Your Database Automated or Non-Existent?

2008-04-22T19:53:00.002-04:00

When I ask real estate agents about their database of clients and prospects, they give me one of three responses:

they use a database management software program, like Top Producer consistently and they know their numbers;
they have a list of clients in a database, but they don't have much information in it;
they don't have a database of past clients at all and prospect leads are in their planner or on post-it notes (who knows where).

Which answer would you give?

Managing your database of clients and prospects is critical in today's market. You need to continually learn more about your clients, even after they've been through a transaction with you.

Everyone is constantly going through changes in their lives.

Not to generalize, but many people buy several homes through their lifetime, not including possibly helping parents or children with their purchases.

What this means is you need to keep in contact with your clients as their lives change.

Let them know that you're there to be their real estate resource. Sometimes people just need to get their questions answered, so they don't make a wrong move. If you surround yourself with ancillary professionals, like contractors, insurance agents, lenders, etc, you'll be better able to service your clients.

Back to building your database; if you don't use Top Producer or ACT or Agent2000, etc, then at least formulate a list of your clients and prospects on Microsoft Word or use an Excel spreadsheet. At the very least, fill out 3 x 5 cards and rubber-band them together as clients and another as prospects.

Detail each client's information with what their future plans may be for their next home. That way you can keep an eye out for them over time and when the timing is right, share your findings with them. Also, know the names and ages of their children and pets and what hobbies they like. It makes it a lot easier to chat with them when you call instead of just asking for a referral.

When talking with prospects, find out as much as you can about their likes and dislikes in a new home. Also, learn about their job and personal life as appropriate. The more you know about a prospect, the more comfortable they'll be with you and you'll have a better chance at helping them buy or sell.

As you're talking with people write down as much as you can about your conversation and as soon as you're finished, make a record of all your notes. That way you won't forget anything the next time you speak with them and they'll be impressed that you remembered certain tidbits.

One additional point to discuss about database management is:

if you have a database of more than 200 - 300 names, how up to date is your list?

Would you be comforable calling every name on the list? Would those who you're calling remember who you are? If no, it's time to pare down your list.

Focus on keeping your best clients and those who are most likely to refer you and/or do business with you again in the future.

What help do you need with building your database?

Stop Being a Spectator!

2008-04-15T17:16:00.005-04:00

Many golfers say that spring has arrived when it's time for a golf tournament called 'The Masters'.

I know it gets me excited, because the sheer beauty of the course on TV is spectacular and I've heard that in person it's even more beautiful.

As you know from previous posts, I don't spend a lot of time watching sports entertainment, but the Masters is my one of my few indulgences.

I've always been a Tiger Woods backer, because of how we does what he does.

(More on Tiger later!)

Although Sunday ended up being pretty uneventful, because of Tiger's lack of precision putting, I was glad that Trevor Immelman won, especially after hearing about all that he and his family had gone through over the years.

What does all of this have to do with your real estate business? Plenty!

From the time Trevor was 11 years old, he wanted to wear the GREEN JACKET. He and his family all sacrificed everything through the years...the endless road trips to tournaments, the coaching expenses, the re-mortgaging of their home again and again, his benign cancer tumor removal earlier this year.

Trevor was focused on his goal.

Did he often wonder if it would happen for him? Yes!

Did he ever quit? No!

Trevor Immelman didn't even make the cut the week before The Masters.

Most people today hit a few bumps in the road during their journey of what they call success and they quit...stopped dead in their tracks.

Then they become a spectator. They watch everyone else, whose exceeding in their business and saying things like "they're so lucky" or "they just know the right people". Well, hard work will help you get more things in life than just sitting on the sidelines.

I've often wondered why you see people on TV at NFL games with their bodies all painted in their team's colors and they're hoot'in and holler'in for a bunch of millionaire sports professionals, who are living out their own dreams.

There's nothing wrong with being a spectator in one part of your life, if you're truly in control of your own life and being all you can be.

Don't just go through the motions in life. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

We all have but one life to live.

Whatever your goals are, know that it will take time to achieve them.

Don't dream about being a millionaire real estate agent just for the money. Be excited about it, because of who it will help you become in the process.

Follow the steps needed to help you achieve your real estate goals. If you're currently earning $50,000/year, don't say that next year you want to earn $250,000/year, because you don't have the skillset to achieve that level yet.

Review how you achieved your $50,000 and increase your business model by 25%. Figure out what you need to learn to do more business and determine how much help you by delegating some of the work load to others.

It's been said that an agent can close around 40 transactions per year by themselves, but it's going to give you a lot of stress in your life.

What are you really good at doing that's income-producing activities?

Do that and delegate everything else.

Just remember that's it's not achieved and in sync overnight.

Work on it every day.

Get 1% better today than you were yesterday.

Now here's a video that I want you to watch. It's an interview of Tiger Woods done last week prior to The Masters. It's very insightful and will show you how Tiger thinks about achieving his goals and focus in life.

There are some great strategies that you learn from and use in your real estate business.

Listen and learn:

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3331650&n8pe6c=3

To your success,

1st Qtr of 2008 Is History!

2008-04-08T11:49:00.004-04:00

The 1st quarter of 2008 is now officially over.

How did you do in your real estate business?

Did you hit your 3-month goals?

Did you have any goals written down?

If you didn't write your goals down, you're really hurting your chances at success...at taking your real estate business to the next level.

Many times agents don't write down their goals, because they don't feel they're that important, but they're wrong.

Goals help keep you on track with where you want to go.

I think the main reason agents don't write down their goals is because in the past, they didn't achieve them
often enough, so they give up.

That's why I believe 12 month goals are a bad idea.

Remember in a recent tip about how I recommended having 90 goals vs. annual goals?

A 12 month period is too long of a time frame.

Too many things can change over the course of 12 months, so you need to focus more on 90 days at a time.

You may even want to tighten it even more and set a goal for the next 30 days only.

Build some success in the short-term and then you will start building momentum.

You know all of this. You've heard it all before.

But are you doing it?

If you're real estate business isn't where you want it to be, then it's time to refocus and determine where
you want to be in the next 30 days.

Work hard at it.

Work your B_TT off for the next 30 days!

Why not?

There's nothing like the present to change your life.

Don't make excuses.

You can change it in an instant!

Did I say it would be easy? NO!

Just do it.

Yes, you'll get nervous...have self-doubt...struggle at times, but perservere through and you'll feel so much better about yourself.

I know the real estate market is tough in many areas, but for every agent who takes action, there are 100
agents saying it can't be done.

Well, those 100 agents are right. They can't do it.

But there are agents doing it despite the market conditions.

So which agent are you?

Don't give up!

The Kansas Jayhawks didn't give up last night.

They were down by 9 points with just over 2 minutes left in the game. Did they panic? No! They kept their composure and stayed focused on doing whatever they could to be there in the end.

The result of their actions: NCAA National Champions!

Never, ever give up and you'll be amazed at where your life will take you.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

Ways To Reduce Your Client's Mortgage Stress!

2008-04-01T11:20:00.006-04:00

The past few months have brought a lot of mortgage changes to the real estate transaction.

A couple of examples are:

Low credit scores are costing buyers more
In many cases, 100% financing is GONE
Appraisals are being more strictly scrutinized
Buyer's credit is being re-verified right before closing

As listing and selling agents, you need to keep your clients informed about the many changes that are occurring in the marketplace.

As a buyer's agent, you need to make sure that your buyer understands that their mortgage lender will often continue asking for additional documentation during the mortgage approval process. The lender's underwriter is constantly being made aware of new guidelines that are happening sometimes daily.

Tell your buyer that this is very common in the mortgage industry and that what wasn't a necessary document yesterday is a requirement today. Everyone is concerned about C.Y.A. The more information the buyer can provide at their initial mortgage appointment the better.

Also, tell your buyers to freeze their non-essential buying during the mortgage approval process. Inform them not lease a new vehicle, buy a large item and put on layaway, open or close any credit card accounts that the loan officer didn't recommend doing. You don't want their credit score to go down, debt ratios go higher or have their financial reserves reduced.

In some cases, because loans were not properly packaged, lenders are being required to buy them back. So let your buyers know that there can be last-minute conditions attached to their file before receiving a full approval. Don't allow them to get upset. Just provide the requested documentation, so that their mortgage can be approved. Many consumers feel they are being singled out, but even those with the highest credit scores and cash reserves are having to jump through more hoops to get their mortgage approved.

As for listing agents, when you receive an offer on your listing, make sure that you get a pre-approval letter with the offer. You do want to find out if the pre-approval was reviewed by an underwriter or automated system and not just a loan officer.

Also understand that a lot of things may be happening behind the scenes to get the mortgage approved that you're not privy to because of privacy laws.

The best thing you can do for your seller is to keep in touch with the buyer's loan officer at least weekly. You should have an initial phone call stating that you know that the loan officer can't share the buyer's confidential information with you, but that you want to be kept in the loop, should any issues arise that the seller needs to be aware of. If the buyer isn't going to get their approval, you want to know as soon as possible, so that you can see if anything can be done to remediate the situation or so that you can put the listing back on the market.

Many times people go through a lot of stress in a real estate transaction, because they are not kept up to date on what's happening. The more you share with your clients about what is going on or what can or may happen, the less stress that will be felt by all.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

Here's 2 Value-Added,Client Strategies!

2008-03-25T10:14:00.004-04:00

There aren't very many services that you can provide to your clients after the sale that don't end up costing you a lot of money to do.

Well, here are 2 strategies that will only take a little bit of your time and are free to do (except any mailings you may do), while giving value to your clients:

Client Teleclasses

What is a teleclass? It's where you moderate a conference call phone line and invite others to listen in to you and/or a guest. You can also have other ask questions and have an open discussion or you can mute the phone lines, when you want it to be quiet for all to hear an interview.

The purpose of a Client Teleclass is two-fold.

First, you need to find some of your reliable, service professionals, i.e. handyman contractor, CPA, insurance agent, mortgage consultant, landscaper, etc. and tell them that you want to interview them for 30 minutes on the telephone while a number of your clients are listening into the call. This gives them new potential clients to work with. Secondly, you notify your clients that you're going to have a 30 minute teleclass, where they can call into a phone from the comfort of their own home and listen to one of your service team professionals, who can share strategies with them and help their situation. If your client is interested in learning more about the topic, then they will listen in. They can also even ask direct questions and get answers too. You can use a service like www.FreeConferenceCall.com.

In the beginning, it's important to send a postcard and even call your clients to tell them about this free service. You may even want to schedule several dates with different speakers, so that they get accustomed to expecting the teleclasses.

You may be thinking to yourself, 'oh I can't do that', but just have your professional write up a list of questions for you to ask and that they can answer and you're up and running. Will the first time be great? Who knows, but your clients will appreciate the effort and time you're taking to help them out.
Neighborhood Market Update

Even though most homeowners don't consciously wonder what homes are selling for every day in their neighborhood, I'm sure they would love to get periodic updates every now and then about know what home values are doing in their neighborhoods.

So why don't you call your clients and ask them if they'd like to receive a Neighborhood Market Update twice a year. You can set it up, so that they can receive an e-mail format of all of the neighborhood listings, pendings and solds.

It'll give you a great reason to touch base with them and you can also update their e-mail address. We all get busy with our business and life and before you know it, it's been months or years since you've spoken to a client. Change that today!

Ultimately, the more service you provide after the sale, the more valuable you will be in your client's eyes and they will refer you, because they will tell others about the services you're providing even after they've already bought or sold.

If you plan to use either of these strategies or have in the past, I'd love to hear how they worked for you and will write about your results in the future.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

5 Probing Questions To Ask Yourself!

2008-03-18T17:21:00.005-04:00

As you go through your day-to-day, real estate business, it's easy to get sucked into the normal situations of putting out fires, running out for a last minute appointment or getting phone calls that you eat up your time.

Daily distractions can run rampant, if you let them.

So how can you attempt to be more focused through your day?

Here are 5 probing questions that can help you open up your mind to the world of possibilities and a new level of understanding.

What's my goal for the next 90 days?

Many agents are taught to write down how much they want to earn in a year or how many transactions they'll close in a year. While that's ok to do as a long-term goal, it's much easier to get yourself wrapped around and focused on 90 days at a time. If you were to fall behind on your numbers, it's easier to play catch-up over a month. Over 90 days, work HARD for 10 weeks and play (vacation) for 2 weeks. That way you're dangling a carrot out in front of you and you'll end up taking 4 vacations every year. Not possible? Why not? You make the rules. It's time to expand your thinking! Do things a little differently!
Why do I want to do this?

It's important to know why you're doing something, because when it gets tough and that will happen from time to time, you need to know why and then what the reward is at the end of the rainbow. If you're only in real estate for the money potential, you can easily burn out or resent this business. You have to love what you're doing to be at your best. Also, there's nothing wrong with changing your focus or vision over time. We all tend to make changes from time to time as we go through different phases of life. Ease into any changes you want to make to your business. Implementing another pillar to your business model should be gradually instituted and not at the expense of other proven and profitable aspects of your business.
What actions do I need to complete today?

Look at your goals and write down the steps you need to take to achieve them. This is what you need to do every day or every week. This may sound boring or mundane, but some of the highest paid professionals in the world practice their craft and just do it over and over again. Don't over-extend yourself in the beginning. Don't say you'll make prospecting 50 calls a day when 10 - 20 is more doable. You can build up to bigger numbers over time, but you also don't want overwhelm yourself and end up not doing anything.
Who can help me get it done?

The day of doing everything solo is over. Whether you want to build a large team or just be a one-person shop, either way or anything in between is ok. What you need to look at is what tasks don't you like doing and then delegate the work out for a fee. If you don't like showing homes, find a buyer's agent, who will pay you a referral fee when they close your lead. My philosophy is the days of hiring your own assistant - training them, managing them, withholding taxes, etc should be over. If you don't know who virtual assistants are, go to www.revanetwork.com. You can hire a virtual assistant by the hour, by the project or be on retainer. They already know how to handle closing transactions, how to data entry into Top Producer, update your web site SEO, etc. They're working with a few to dozens of agents around the country. They are independent contractors. You may never even meet them, but depending on their specialty, they can handle a lot of your paperwork for you and free you up to do what you do best: list and sell. Check with your broker on this topic.
How can I ask for referrals?

You need to explain to your clients when you first meet them how to give you referrals. There are many different times during the process of helping them buy or sell a home, where it's ideal and ok for you to ask for referrals. Whenever you go above and beyond, let you client know in a humbled way and ask for a referral. But you need to specifically target a group of people (co-workers, family, people they play sports with, friends from church, etc) for them to be able to quickly review that group in their head. Make it a goal to get at least one qualified referral during each transaction. You've then doubled your business without additional expenses.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

Headlines Putting Your Pysche On Tilt!

2008-03-11T09:25:00.004-04:00

It's time to really shut off the outside news world!

News headlines just from last night were:

Stocks are down 11.49% so far in 2008!
Gas is rising 20-30 cents...could soon hit $4.00/gal!
Millions of Foreclosures are coming up!
63,000 Jobs lost - Unemployment is rising!

You would think the world is falling apart and coming to an end.

All news is hype about greed or fear. That's what sells!

I was reading an online article today about additional millions of foreclosures that are looming ahead and I got depressed...sick to my stomach!

But that's how the news sources want us to feel.

Well, NO MORE!!!

It's now more important than ever to go into your own, little imaginary town of 'Pleasantville'.

Your world is made up of your family, friends, co-workers, and clients. It's easier to maintain some normalcy in your life when you don't allow the outside world to affect your day to day thinking.

Will some things filter through to you? Yes, but if you focus on what you're attempting to achieve in your life, you'll end up living a happier life than dealing with all of the misery that's shown on the news media.

I must admit that I do watch a little bit of news from time to time, but I've scaled way back from what I used to watch.

But now, I'm turning it off. It won't be easy. It's been part of my entire life, but starting today, I'm not going to watch the news any more.

Will it be hard? Yes.

Will I second-naturedly turn it on from time to time? Probably.

Even though I've never smoked a cigarette, I'm already feeling the withdrawal effects of not watching the news last night or this morning. I feel like I have to know what's going on.

Turn off your radio news, your evening news, your 24-hour internet news!

Pick up a good book...spend some quality time with your family and friends...watch a funny movie...

Unless there's a major disaster or some other important news, then you don't need the daily news hype floating around in your head.

See how much simpler your life will be. You'll have a calmer feeling some times. It's not going to be a cure-all, but there can be a sense of peace in your life when you keep all of the BAD news out of your mind.

You also won't have as many advertisements being blasted at you from all directions. Your mind will be less cluttered.

Will we still have to deal with an over-supply of listings, short sales, unrealistic sellers and buyers, whose financing options have gotten a little tougher?

Sure, but in the end, keep putting one foot in front of the other, follow your business plan, adjust it when necessary and you will succeed.

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

Is Spring Selling Season Far Off?

2008-03-04T18:55:00.005-05:00

Spring is approaching and home buyers and sellers won't be far behind.

As northern parts of the United States start melting, it means that the spring home selling season isn't far off.

You may be thinking "What will this year's prime selling season look like?" "Will it be better or worse than last year?"

I don't believe we're out of the woods yet as far as seeing foreclosures continuing to make a mark on the marketplace. They will continue to pop up almost everywhere. Seeing listings advertised with 'short sale' notices is becoming very common. I've been showing many homes, where the sellers either owe more than the listing is worth or the sellers, who took out 100% financing loans, just a couple of years ago, are trying to break even on their sale.

So what does all of this mean?

Don't let the national news media get you down. Homes are still selling! Not all listings will sell in this market, because there is an over-supply of homes in many areas. What you need to do is get your seller to understand the realities of today's market. Pricing and condition are absolutely critical! With all of the listings that continually come up as "expired", agents are wasting a lot of time and money on listings, where the seller won't price it correctly or they won't showcase the property to show in its best light.

It's time to qualify your sellers more closely. If they aren't truly motivated to make a move, then tell them they should wait or if you have to, refer them to another agent. A lot of homes aren't selling during their listing period. If a property is going to expire 2 or 3 times on the market, do you want to be its first agent?

Also, buyers will need more help in determining their mortgage options. Make sure your buyer clients are pre-approved for a mortgage before they start their home search. Mortgage lenders today are often requesting additional borrower information and document re-verification prior to the closing. Make sure that you allow enough time in your purchase agreements to get a buyer's loan approved. Some mortgage programs are taking more time than normal due to underwriters and others wanting to check and re-check all of the information. Some buyers are dragging their feet, trying to figure out when the market is going to bottom out. That could be a mistake if they wait too long.

You also should be educating your client base about what's happening in the market. You can share information with them by sending e-newsletters, writing a free real estate blog, mailing monthly market updates, phone calls and even 'pop-bys'.

Your existing (active and inactive) clients and prospects are watching the same nay-saying, news media that you are. If you don't think they're getting the full story (they're not!), then it's your responsibility to tell them what's really happening in your area.

Be proactive! It'll be a boost to your business! You'll feel better about things, because you're taking steps to improve your business and your area's economy!

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

10 Costly, Agent Marketing Mistakes - Part 2

2008-02-26T10:48:00.007-05:00

Because it's easy to get 'funnel-vision' thinking, these thoughts are to help you become more aware of what's really working in your market and to help you improve your marketing systems.

The last 4 marketing mistakes I see agents making all of the time are:

#4 - Curtail image advertising unless...

Does billboard marketing work? Does shopping cart marketing work? Does plastering your face everywhere work? If it's getting you actual business, where consumers are hiring you then keep doing what you're doing. If you have a contract for bench advertising or any other long-term advertising, then you need to look closely to see if you're getting results for your hard-earned dollars. There was a time when agent and company image advertising often worked, but in today's market many consumers won't even pay attention to anything you have to say unless you are focused on serving their needs. Remember, the consumer is thinking "WIIFM" - What's In It For Me?" If you're only tooting your own horn, then the consumer could care less about you. What can you do for them? What can you offer them? How can you differentiate yourself from other salespeople?
#3 - Not blogging!

If you haven't started blogging, it's not too late. This is a great, FREE way to promote yourself and your services to other professionals for referrals as well as to consumers who read your posts. Having a web log (blog) is a great addition to your web site, because you get to share your expertise and thoughts about whatever it is you want to talk about. Consumers and clients get to see a glimpse of who are behind your facade, should you want to share your professional and personal thoughts on various topics. Blogs can also help you become more visible in organic, free searches done by the public. There are many free blog site platforms available. One real estate community blog site is ActiveRain - click here. Others are blogger or wordpress or realtown...
#2 - Not taking educational courses!

When real estate markets were HOT, agents would always say "I don't have any time right now for classes. I'm so busy." Well, most agents have a little more available time now and one of the best ways to make good use of that time is to educate yourself. I believe education can really shorten your learning curve. Have you ever heard "...the more you learn, the more you earn..." Agents with advanced designations like CRS, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, etc do, on average, earn a significantly higher amount of income than those who don't educate themselves. I think it's called "A CLUE!" When you learn new skills or improve your existing skills by taking them to the next level, you will become a better agent, a better person, a more balanced person, and more.
#1 - Not focusing on money-making activities!

In today's real estate climate, consumers are afraid. They watch CNN, read magazines, peruse the Internet and bad news about the economy and the housing market are everywhere. They don't know if they can qualify for a mortgage. BUT the reality is homes are still being sold, because sellers need to sell and if the price is right, buyers will buy. It's just that there's a huge inventory of homes today in most markets. So you need to focus on doing money-making activities now!

YES, prospecting - following up with leads - calling inactive clients. Do the activities that will produce sales. Because it's a numbers game out there, here's a question for you: Would you want every listing that comes your way? NO! Some homes will be in poor shape...have unmotivated sellers...be way over-priced...etc. You have to produce the numbers, so that you can find the gems that will still sell in today's market. Going back to the basics is CRITICAL! Don't think you're too good to do it...you're fooling yourself. Experienced agents, new agents and even mega-producing agents have gone back to the basics, because if you don't, you won't survive in the real estate business for very long, unless you have deep pockets and want to kid yourself. You've got to work smarter. That means being more effective with your time. Get more activities done in less time. Improve your efficiency. You'll be leaner and meaner and can survive any type of market.

Now go do it!

To your success,

Dan

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

10 Costly, Agent Marketing Mistakes - Part I

2008-02-19T15:01:00.007-05:00

Look around and see if you're seeing the same marketing mistakes being made out in the marketplace as I am. You may even be doing a couple of them yourself.

10 Costly, Agent Marketing Mistakes I See Agents Making Daily:

#10 - Un-branded E-Mail Addresses
If you're only using one e-mail address for both your business and personal purposes, you're making a big mistake. Too many agents are using an AOL, Juno, hotmail, comcast, bellsouth, etc as their primary e-mail address. When you use those services, you're marketing them, not you. You need to have multiple e-mail addresses, including one for branding you, i.e. dan@danweis.com and one for for branding your real estate business, i.e. bob@(yourcity)realestate.com. Keep it as short as possible. You can come up with a lot of creative names, but select a brand name that will be easily salable in the future when you decide to sell your real estate business.

#9 - Not Using Signature Files
Many agents don't even use a signature at the end of their email. You can design one that you just insert or copy & paste at the end of each e-mail you write. You should add links to have people stay at your sites longer or to provide additional information for them. Here's an example of one I use for clients and prospects:

Dan Weis
Real Estate Consultant since 1985
RE/MAX Unlimited Realtors
Cincinnati, OH
cell: 513-615-1890
fax: 513-842-8830
E-mail: dan@DanWeis.com

My Web site: http://www.CincinnatiRealEstateGuy.com
My Blog: http://www.CincinnatiRealEstateNews.com

Who's the next person you know planning to buy or sell?
Call me & I'll take great care of them!
Need Help with Identity Theft or Legal Issues?www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/danweis

#8 - Lack of Staging
We've all been through properties that looked like a tornado had just gone through the home and the sellers knew someone was coming through. Since it's a buyer's market in most areas, it's critical that you help your sellers prepare their home to show in its best light possible. If they aren't willing to do much, then you need to price it accordingly or decide if you want the listing.
#7 - Poorly-Taken Interior Photos
Wow, looking at the photos of properties that are online! I'm amazed at how many homes are cluttered, have too much furniture in the rooms, show kitchen counters full of stuff, are dark photos, etc. If a home isn't ready to be photographed, you have to wonder if it's really even ready to be put on the market and available for showings. Make sure that your listing's photos are as good as possible. Sellers are costing themselves thousands of dollars and lost sales, because consumers look at their online photos and move on to the next home.
#6 - ZERO or One Photo
What you have to find out is how many photos does your MLS allow you to post online? Last year, my Cincinnati MLS went from increasing the number of allowable photos from 6 to 15 photos. That's more than double, yet there are still many listings with no photos or just one photo. Some have 3, 4, or 5 photos, but it's rare for listings to have all 15 photos posted...I'd say less than 10% of listings have the maximum allowable number. Now I understand that some properties just aren't that photogenic, but if buyers don't see photos online, they're going to wonder what's wrong with the home. If there aren't enough good photos of the interior then why not take some photos of the neighborhood amenities or schools, etc.
#5 - Ineffective Classified & Magazine Advertising

With approximately 80% of all buyers searching the Internet for real estate, why are you still advertising in the newspaper and real estate magazines? Now, if you track your numbers and are getting proven results from these advertising mediums, then continue using them. But if you're spending money on these mediums and you're not even getting any calls, then it's time to re-allocate your money into the Internet. It's important to track where your business comes from, because when sellers say why aren't you advertising in the newspaper, etc, you can show them that it's a waste of time and money. If you decide to use classified or magazine advertising, then make sure you promote your web site or offer a free report. That may help you increase your responses.

Often times, you look at these different mistakes that others are making and wonder to yourself, "Wow, I'm glad I'm not spending my money that way." But sometimes it's easy to get sucked into using a product or service that on the surface looks like it will work or that it will appease the seller, when in reality it's not going to benefit anyone except the vendor.

Next week, I'll go over the other 5 costly marketing mistakes agents are making.

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

Are Distractions Killing Your Business?

2008-02-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

You look at your watch and it's 5:00pm.

You say to yourself: "Already? The day just flew by."

Did you accomplish everything you set out to do today?

Did you follow a written list of items that you needed to complete today?

Our lives are so full of distractions from the phone ringing to people coming up to us and interrupting our thought patterns to putting up with the tolerations like having a messy, unorganized desk. (Sure, we say we know where everything on it. Right!)

The problem is we know in our heads what we want to do on a particular day, but we often end up doing other less-productive activities that in the short-term may not seem to make a difference, but in the long-term will cost us business.

If you have a listing appointment or are showing homes to a client, you know you won't miss those appointments. But it's the smaller details in your day - like making the client follow-up calls or contacting your prospect leads to schedule appointments or delegating some tasks for an assistant to complete.

The solution is to get serious about knowing exactly what needs to be done each day, so that you don't miss anything and your business will run more efficiently and profitably.

In today's world of technology gadgets everywhere, if you haven't been using a 'to-do list' on Top Producer, Word, Outlook or your Blackberry, etc., then it's time to at least use a 3x5 card or a sheet of paper and list everything you need to do in the day on it.

Don't get fancy!

Right now you need to keep things simple. Simple works!

If you haven't been using an automated contact management system, like Top Producer, Outlook or ACT, then start with a sheet of paper and also simultaneously copy everything into the software program, so you can get comfortable using it.

Continuity is the key. It has to become a habit. People say a habit can take 21 - 30 days to become a part of your daily routine.

When you think of something else during the day that needs to be done, write it down. Don't put them on a separate Post-It notes or little pieces of paper.

The best time to put together your next day's 'to-do list' is the night before. Write down everything you can think of. Then in the morning before you start your day, review your list to see if you need to add anything else to it.

Next, it's time to play a game called "Hyper-Focus". Start taking the action steps of completing each item on your list. Don't answer your phone...don't talk with others...just see how much you can finish in 1 hour. When you look back at the time, you'll be amazed at how much you accomplished. What normally would take you
3-4 hours, you finished in just over an hour.

Why? Because you were 100% focused on what had to be done.

If you were making phone calls, you stayed on point and didn't get distracted by talking about unrelated issues. You got what you needed and moved on to accomplishing the next item on your list.

This strategy will allow you to do 'spurts' of business in record time, which will open up your time to continue onto other projects or take some time off to be with your family.

Also, because you've already accomplished them, you won't have a bunch of small tasks floating around in your head all day waiting to be done and causing you to continually be distracted form your focus.

No real estate agent should be "ON" 24/7. Work hard and smart when you're working and enjoy life when you're off the clock.

You must set up boundaries for when you work and when you play, because life goes too quickly. If you have children, you need to enjoy them before they grow up and if you have friends, you need to make time to nurture your relationships or they'll wither away.

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

Are You Invisible To Today's Internet-Savvy Consumer?

2008-02-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

Are your real estate competitors passing you by with all of the latest technology that consumers are craving?

If you don't have N.A.R.'s e-PRO designation yet, you may find yourself losing more business to those who are implementing the strategies that consumers expect today: more Internet tools and instant response to their queries.

I wanted to take a moment to pass along some information on the e-PRO certification course that might be of interest to you. I personally have found the online course to be one of the best moves I've made in my career.

e-PRO is the National Association of REALTORS' fastest-growing, certification course and has provided me with all the tools I need to grow my business and provide the service that today's Internet savvy consumers demand. With more than 75% of all buyers beginning their search on the Web, the information contained in the e-PRO course is invaluable.

You've got to watch this short, informational e-PRO video. It's an overview of what the e-PRO designation is all about.

The e-PRO course is perfect for new or technologically-challenged real estate agents who want to jump start their career.

To sign up for the e-PRO course and to receive your $25 discount, CLICK HERE.

Whether you're a brand new real estate agent or a seasoned professional, whose never quite jumped on the Internet bandwagon, this is an NAR designation course that you can't afford not to have.

After receiving your e-PRO designation, you also won't have to worry about paying annual dues for keeping the designation. There are NO annual dues! I love it!

Another benefit of completing the e-PRO designation is that it can count as an elective course towards completing the CRS, ABR or CIPS designations.

Take advantage of the e-PRO $25 discount by CLICKING HERE Right Now!

Stop Being Burned By Buyers!

2008-02-05T12:13:00.000-05:00

If you've been in real estate for any length of time, you've possibly lost a buyer, because of one of the following reasons:

they saw an open house on their own time, fell in love & wrote offer with listing agent,
after viewing homes with you, they stopped in at a builder's model home and were told they'd get a better deal without involving you,
they just used you for information...their phone was disconnected and they never called you back,
they were working with several agents at once & you lost out,
they bought a home outside of your service area,
after weeks of viewing homes with you, they said they had to work with an agent recommended by their relocation company,
you lost out in multiple offers and they got mad at you and never returned your calls

There are other scenarios, but you get the idea.

So how do you prevent these scenarios from happening to you?

Here are 3 steps that will drastically improve your odds:

Mortgage Pre-approval - Get your clients pre-approved for a mortgage. Before you meet your clients or show them properties, make sure that they sit down with a mortgage consultant, who will review their credit and personal information and provide them with an underwriter-reviewed, pre-approval based on a mortgage program that best fits their needs.
Buyer Consultation - Explain the home buying process. Again, before showing properties, meet with your clients and review the home buying process with them step-by-step. Let them ask questions. Share with them what your expectations are of them during the process. Let them know that you're looking out for their best interests. Trust is earned over time, so always be counseling them. The more they understand how things work, the more loyal client you'll have. Tell them about how open houses and for sale by owners work. You know they see them. They may not always tell you, but you know they do.
Constant Communication - Don't let days go by without calling your buyers. You need to ask them how they want to be communicated with (by email or phone) and how often they'd like to hear from you. Then increase the frequency just a bit. You can never talk to them too much, if you have valuable info to tell them.

Over the years, no matter how much of it you do right, there will still be some buyers, who go into the Witness Protection Program after spending a lot of time with you. Just do your best to avoid it as much as possible by following the steps above.

Just keep asking your clients questions through the home buying process. If you're losing buyers for any reason, you need to figure it out fast - is it a unique circumstance or could you have avoided it?

In the end, follow these steps and you'll definitely increase your buyer conversion rate.

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

Are You Missing Referrals Right Under Your Nose?

2008-01-29T10:43:00.000-05:00

How often are you on the phone your lenders, home inspectors, insurance agents, etc, talking about your clients ...weekly? ...daily?

Do you ever ask them for referrals?

You may figure that since they work with a lot of agents, that you'd never have a shot at a referral, but I know that most people never ask.

Now, since they know a lot of different agents, you may not get a whole bunch of referrals, but you should get
your fair share.

When you do get a referral, keep the referrer up to date and informed about how the sale is going.

You have to realize that they are putting their reputation on the line by recommending you. So how they see you handle your various clients may be the clincher on whether or not they would ever refer someone to you. It may not even be a conscious decision on their part, but you are being judged on your skills.

You may want to take a different service professional out to lunch each week and get to know them better and find out what type of people they are looking for in their business.

Another strategy is to form a networking group that meets for breakfast or lunch weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. There's groups out there like BNI and other referral groups, where you can model some of what they do and build your own networking group with the professionals you've been working with for months or years.

The important thing to do is make sure that you only invite professionals, whose work and skillset you've seen and know that they'll take great care of your clients.

Here's a short list of people you may deal with a lot in your business that you could have join your group: lender...insurance agent...title agent...home inspector...termite inspector...financial planner...painter...electrician...mover...handyman...stager...landscaper, etc. You get the idea!

I would start out with a minimum of 4 - 5 people and then as time goes on, you can add to the group by referring in others, who everyone believes would add value to the group.

I'd recommend meeting twice a month for breakfast at a local restaurant on a Monday or Tuesday morning, early in the week.

Have everyone give a 60 second "commercial" about themselves and their business. Then have one person each time spend 5 - 10 minutes going deeper into what they do in their business.

If they have any areas in their business that they need help with, that can be discussed with the group. When
an issue comes up, what's discussed in the group stays in the group.

I also believe that as people get to know each other better, then people should feel comfortable starting to refer to others in the group. These are to be non-incentive referrals. You don't want to have any RESPA violations.

Then when you're out in the field doing your business and someone needs a service that someone in your group offers, you can easily refer them.

I don't believe that having referrals for each other has to be a requirement each time to meet, but that's going to be one of pillars that will keep your group together long-term.

Networking groups from time to time do disband when there's not enough perceived value offered among its
members. So make sure that you keep the group lively and you help each other out. You can try to do some
joint marketing to increase each other's businesses.

Where else can you meet twice a month for under $10 for breakfast and build relationships and get referrals?

If you're currently a part of a networking group now, what strategies are working well in keeping your group
together? Please share your ideas.

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

You're Ripping People Off!

2008-01-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

You're ripping your clients off!

You're ripping your family off!

You're ripping the world off!

But most importantly, you're ripping yourself off!

Whooooooa there for one second!

Those are BOLD statements!

"What are you talking about, Dan?"

"Are you talking about me?"

I don't know. Maybe, but I hope not.

Here's what I'm talking about.

Are you giving life your all?

Are you as skilled in real estate as you could be?

Are you selling yourself short?

If you're not giving a 100% in your real estate business, then how many people are you hurting by not having a HIGH-OCTANE business plan in place?

You see, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of real estate agents in your general marketplace that are not as qualified as you.

They have not spent the time, money nor energy it takes to be a success in real estate like you have.

Yet, they are working with home buyers and home sellers who would be much better off being represented by you.

There are hundreds of buyers and sellers out in the market RIGHT NOW, who don't have an agent to work with yet. You've got to find them!

Can you imagine some of the terrible scenarios that these inexperienced agents are putting their clients through?

We've all heard the various horror stories.

It happens every day!

Why?

Let me ask you this question.

How many more clients could you work with this year? 5, 10, 20,...?

If you decided to, you could build a team around you, where you could help a 100 or more new clients a year.

The point is, no matter what the number, by improving your real estate skills and systems, you can help more consumers have a better experience buying or selling than what they're now going through.

Decide how many people you want to help through their real estate transaction and just go do it.

Does it mean you need to be more focused every day?

YES!

Does it mean you need to improve your prospecting methods?

YES!

Does it mean you need to push yourself a little harder for the sake of getting better and helping more people?

YES!

Now I'm not saying that you have to turn into a 7-day a week workaholic. But when you're in the real estate
business, work hard and smart. Then when it's time to play and relax, you can do that, knowing you've done
everything possible.

Nobody knows how much time they have on this Earth, so don't waste your life by being inefficient. What will your legacy be when you're gone? What difference did you make?

Are you up to the challenge?

How many prospects will follow up with until you can reach them? Show them why you're the agent who has the experience and persistence to be their agent.

The more home buyers and sellers YOU help, the fewer horror stories that'll be floating around out in the market.

Go get 'em today!

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

Join FREE Network For Real Estate Referrals & Ideas: ActiveRain Real Estate Network

All content copyrighted © 2007 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

How To Make Every Day Count!

2008-01-15T10:39:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wonder why some days fly by when your real estate business is really in sync...you're 'in the zone' and your appointments and phone calls go like clockwork without interruptions?

While on other days, you feel like you're constantly putting out fires and you really don't get anything done?

Well, part of that's "just life", but there's another reason for it.

You're not being consistent in your daily actions.

One day you're doing one thing and the next day you're trying something else.

What are you missing in your business?

You're missing a "ROUTINE".

A ROUTINE gives you a roadmap of what you need to accomplish.

A ROUTINE allows you to follow the steps to achieve your goals.

A ROUTINE does not mean you do exactly the same thing every day. You should have a certain number of activities that you do every day, but some tasks will only be done once or when needed.

Do you ever feel out of focus? Do you get the feeling you're not moving in the right direction...you're not achieving your goals? It's because you're not focused on completing a daily routine.

A great example in sports is professional football. Every week during the season, football players follow a weekly routine. Monday is an off day...Tuesday is reviewing game films...Wednesday is practice...Thursday is installing game plan for next opponent...Friday is practicing new plays...Saturday is travel and practice in the stadium...Sunday is GAME DAY!

For each week, every team has a scheduled routine. Coaches don't like changes, because they want the continuity and want to keep everyone focused on the end result.

Another benefit of having a ROUTINE is when doing the same tasks over and over again consistently, you'll improve your skills.

Professionals make 'practice' a daily part of their routine. Do you think Tiger Woods, LeBron James and Tom Brady practice every day? They're as good as they are because they follow a routine.

Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson...do you think they could just walk onto the basketball court and automatically make three-point shots? They practiced every day...shooting hundreds and hundreds of shots.

It's called "Mastering the Mundane". You get so good at it that you can do whatever it is under any situation. Are you unflappable in a listing presentation? Are there objections a seller can use to to throw you off your game?

So you need to sit down and write out which tasks you need to accomplish every day, like prospecting and practicing your buyer and seller presentations. In the beginning, you may only have your morning scheduled into a rountine. I know and understand how outside influences can change a day (putting our fires or adding or changing client appts), but if you start with establishing a morning routine, then when you're consistently completing all of your morning tasks, your time management and your skills will improve and you'll be well on your way to increasing your income and having more balance in your life.

Your real estate business is often in a constant state of change, but YOU decide which activities you need to do to in order to make your schedule work. That's real life!

When you find that you're getting out of your ROUTINE, then you need to delegate. Are you doing tasks that someone else should be doing? But that's another topic....

Focus on doing only what's in your daily ROUTINE!

So set up a ROUTINE for one week and analyze your results at the end of the week. Tweak your routine a bit and do it again the next week. It's called "Plan-Do-Review".

I challenge you to do this and send me an email at the end of the first week. Tell me how it went.

To your success,

Dan
dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

How Many Leaks Are In Your Pipeline?

2008-01-08T11:09:00.000-05:00

Did you know that if you were doing pro-active marketing and advertising, you could have closed 2 - 3 times more transactions in the past few years than you ended up with?

"Dan, how could that be?"

"There's no way I lost that much business!"

Well, let me show you how it happened.

If you could go back in time and make a list of every prospect who ever contacted you by phone, e-mail, open house or in person, I can pretty much guarantee you threw away closings in the garbage can, where another agent got paid instead of you!

You see, most agents only want to work with "NOW" buyers and if a buyer isn't ready to buy right away, they would store them in some database to work with later. Well, 6 months go by and you finally remember them and call, only to find out that they already bought a home.

So, you say "Those stinkin' buyers!" You know what? It's your fault! You didn't drip on them until they were ready to buy, so another agent helped them out.

I recently read where when you generate 25 buyer prospects, many agents end up only working with 2 of the hottest ones and only closing one of them.

You're thinking, "Who can buy right now, because I need a paycheck right now?"

Well, keep thinking that way and you'll soon be out of business.

Sure, about half of them (50%) won't qualify for a mortgage or just never make a move, but out of every 25 leads, half of them WILL buy a home within the next year.

"But, Dan, I can't wait that long. I need business now."

You say you can't wait that long, but the average buyer takes 6 - 9 months before they buy a home. When they first "raise their hand", they are only beginning to think about buying...they may need to repair their credit before starting...they may not know where they want to live, so they search online looking at homes...they want to become educated, so they learn more on the internet, etc.

Well, start building an active list of prospects and soon you will be able to convert a few of them every month, like clockwork. But you must start now, because it'll take some time to find the prospects before you can start going to closings.

Just think, if you can generate 25 prospects per month, that's 300 per year. If 50% don't qualify or aren't motivated, that leaves 150 (or 12 leads per month). How many of those can you help IF you stay in contant touch with them and are there when they're ready to buy?

Is 'three' a number that could work?

That would triple your current conversion number!

Most agents with those numbers would only close 12 transactions a year...while you can have 36+ closings per year!

But it starts with building your list of prospects and consistently month after month staying in touch with them until they're ready to buy.

In reality, you have to consciously make the effort to improve your lead conversion rate once you put a prospect into your pipeline. Don't let them leak out! That's like burning money in a fire pit...and it's gone forever!

So start your list right now. Go back and search for any possible leads that may or may not be dead. Contact them (or mail to them if they're on the 'Do Not Call' list) and see if you can revive them.

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

All content copyrighted © 2007 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach

It's Time To Jumpstart 2008!

2007-12-31T10:16:00.000-05:00

I hope you've enjoy your time with family and friends celebrating your NewYear festivities, but it's also time to have your new goals in place for 2008.

Many people think they have goals for the new year, but they don't write them down. They have them in their head, but when it's time to put the plan in action, they really don't know what all of the steps are to achieve them.

Step #1: Write down the income amount you want to achieve this year or the number of transactions you want to close.

Step #2: Write down the action steps needed to achieve your goals.

Step #3: Break down into 90-day segments. You need to focus on the short-term more than the long-term.

As an entrepreneur, you have strengths and weaknesses. How are you at following up, at time management, at detail paperwork, at marketing, etc? Give more attention to your strengths and delegate your weaknesses for others to complete on your behalf.

I recently ran across a free web site that allows you to keep track of your goals.

Go to: www.joesgoals.com. Don't be fooled by the web site name. It's a great site. I'm just starting to use it too.

What are your Top 5 goals for the next 90 days?

Post them on www.joesgoals.com and do them every day. You can create action steps to be done daily or weekly. This will allow you to have your goals in front of you every day.

If you're consistently hitting your goals, then increase your numbers, so that you have something more challenging to go after. You may want to add 20% to your goals. You need to push yourself. If you're too comfortable, you may end up getting bored and stop doing them.

Do you want to take the next step with your goals?

Then tell others your goals - it's called the "Embarrassment Factor". If you don't consistently do the needed activities, then your family, friends and co-workers will be able to see you're not doing what you said you would do.

Now when you achieve your goals every week and month, you need to give yourself a reward. So set up a rewards system. Do something or buy something for yourself. You need to dangle a carrot in front of you for those times when you don't want to do what you said you needed to do.

Now go to www.joesgoals.com and let's see how it works for you.

Keep me posted on your success!

Again, have a safe and Happy New Year tonight!

To your success,

Dan

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your business? E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

Finding A Needle In A Haystack!

2007-12-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

Have you ever represented a buyer, who you just couldn't seem to find what they were looking for?

They wanted to live in a particular school district and there were only 3 subdivisions they wanted.

You kept waiting for new listings to come on the market to show.

Days turned into weeks, which turned into months...and still the right property was not found.

Then one day the perfect house came on the market, but OH NO, the sellers accepted an offer before your buyers could go see it.

You're so frustrated, because you've lost out again and now you'll have to wait some more.

Well, I have a great remedy for your situation and it's called "Needle In A Haystack" Buyer System.

You design a simple 3x5 postcard in a WORD doc (4-up on a page) and mail it to every homeowner in the areas your buyers want to move to.

Now you don't send out 2,000 postcards, but if the neighborhoods have a couple hundred homes in them, that would be ideal.

On the postcard (with your client's permission), you want to state that you have a bonafide, pre-approved buyer, who is looking for a 4-bedroom 2-story in _____ area and if they've considered making a move, you'd like to show their home to see if it meets your client's needs. As far as what else you put on the postcard, you always have to focus on "W.I.I.F.M." - What's In It For Me.

You need to hit the prospective seller's HOT BUTTONS!

Only use words that will motivate the potential seller to call back to get more information from you. There's no other reason for the postcard. Don't put your website, email address, etc on the postcard - only your direct phone number. You only want them to call you for more information. A confused mind won't do anything.

(Don't do this strategy unless you have a real client.)

You'll also want to put your name, company name and one phone number, preferably your cell phone. You don't want to add any fluff or a whole bunch of logos, etc on the card. Keep it to the point. You should select a bright, neon colored postcard stock like yellow or pink - something that will stand out in the mailbox.

You only have 2 seconds to catch their attention.

Now I used this strategy once for a client, who needed a ranch home and the prospective seller called me and said "How did you know I wanted to sell?" I replied "I didn't know, so that's why I sent out the postcards." My clients ended up purchasing that home.

They agreed on a price, the sellers didn't have to leave in a hurry and the buyers found just wanted they wanted without the continued stress anymore.

Now you may be wondering about agency laws and who's representing whom. Well, that's something to discuss with your broker to decide what you need to do in your situation.

This is what I've identified as "Under-The-Radar MarketingTM"!

It's another way to work your real estate business more efficiently and more effectively. When you have a client, who is looking for a very specific type property or only in certain small subdivisions or condo communities, this strategy is one that can be used to hopefully find your client's new home.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. For those of you celebrating, have a safe and happy holiday season!

What's your BIGGEST FRUSTRATION in your real estate business?
E-mail me at: dan@agentsuccesscoach.com

All content copyrighted © 2007 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach