I am relatively new to blogging and am learning a ton every day. I need to know if it is okay if I use the same post for more than one of my blogs. I'm writing the posts, so it is my material. Help is greatly appreciated.
How many times have you heard someone say that they made this mistake or that mistake when they were "Young and Dumb?" Too many if it is as often as I've heard it. I believe very strongly in learning life lessons from those who have gone before you. I'm struggling with this a bit in the area of residential real estate. There seems to be a code that says "Do it like it's always been done or don't do it at all." I refuse to follow that logic. I'm building a growing residential business based on innovation and creativity.
If you have been in the residential real estate business for more than 10 years and consider yourself full time and successful, let this blog be a place that you post a little nugget of your earned wisdom. Those of us who are younger will greatly appreciate it and be better for your generosity.
Thank you very much, and I'm looking forward to the comments.
I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA, but I see agents doing it all of the time. What is it about real estate that makes it so cool to say "I'm in real estate?" What is it about 100% commission that doesn't motivate people in to action? Here is a list of techniques to employ if you want to be "in real estate" and make "NO MONEY!"
Stay in the office all day long (not on the phones.)
Don't follow up with anyone ever.
Make it abundantly clear to your prospects that you really really need the commission from their deal.
Don't use any systems, ever.
Hire an assistant as soon as you can find one. Even if you don't need one, it looks great!
Remember, long expensive lunches are a right that Realtors have fought for for years.
Forget a client's name (forgetting the wife's name is a big winner here.)
Stop working every day right at 5:00, after all, you are self employed and you were sick of the 9-5 thing.
Bug your friends and family, always whining that they don't send you referrals.
Avoid social interaction.
Spend lots of time on your business card photos and calendar magnets.
For more great ideas on how to avoid making any money in residential real estate, visit your local bar or pub where you'll catch up with many other agents who will tell you that "business is great."
For those who didn't catch the satirical nature of the previous post, I WAS JOKING. It is time in most markets for good old fashioned business sense. Treat people well, work hard, pay attention and you'll do okay.
As entrepreneurs, real estate professionals must be creative, competitive, communicative and sharp. Many of us have avoided "normal" jobs deliberately to preserve our autonomy and freedom of choice. Many of us have also felt the negative results of staying as free as a bird all of the time.
Systems and structure are not t be feared. I am constantly telling my team and reminding myself that the most successful real estate professionals are not necessarily the smartest, but they are the most disciplined and dedicated. Great systems can actually provide MORE freedom than shooting from the hip all of the time. If you are reinventing the wheel with each new client, the road tends to get pretty bumpy for all involved.
Take this time in a slow, wet, cold market and invest your time in creating some effective systems to better serve your clients, fellow agents and your BUSINESS. You do own a business remember. Allow your systems and good habits to give you more freedom instead of less. Knowing your transaction has a plan should give you additional confidence and less worry.
...my last blog post was an experiment in creating activity through a little controversy. I did get to post a video from Office Space though.
RANDOM CHANGE OF DIRECTIONS TO FOLLOW:
I love finding new referral partners. Most of the time this starts when I find someone who would benefit one of my client friends. I truly enjoy being the guy who "has a guy," or "knows somebody" for this or that. I have great contacts with locksmiths, insurance agents, lenders, title companies, HVAC techs and on and on. No pool guy right now though. (Let me know if you have a reliable and affordable pool service company in Dallas, TX.)
Not only does this approach to business relationships feed my need for information, it is a tremendous resource to offer my consulting clients and friends. You never know when a good referral to a carpet store will turn into a listing. I refuse to keep someone on my list who does any of the following:
over charges for anything
shows up late or doesn't complete a job on schedule
Please require that "REALTORS(R)" can walk and chew gum at the same time. If not that, at least be able to spell their own name...
Time and time again I have had clients tell me that they thought REALTORS(r) were all irresponsible unresponsve idiots. So, if you are not full time, committed to your clients, and constantly learning, I ask you now to please let your license go inactive. It does not serve the client, your character or the industry well at all if you try to pass as a professional any more.
Would you tell an airplane full of passengers that you were a pilot if you didn't know how the controls worked? (Please say no.)
Then, why do so many real estate agents tell clients that they can handle everything when they barely know anything about the process?
How many of us have had to answer questions for another agent in a deal that scared the heck out of you because he or she didn't know in the first place? How often do you find yourself telling another agent how to do his or her job, or better yet just doing it for them to save your client from possible problems?
This job is not easy. It requires expertise, communications skills, research and so much more. Please take it seriously so that our clients get what they deserve for their money.
I'll tell you up front that the SEO professional with whom I was speaking wasn't trying for flattery.
I'm trying to figure out how in the world to combine the functionality of a template real estate site with the SEO capability of a custom site. I've been trying to figure it out for over 2 years. After an hour's worth of tech talk and me clarifying my expectations and goals, we got down to it. He said, "This is the best site I've ever seen from someone who is doing their SEO all on their own."
That little qualifier at the end is where the real punch is packed. Those of us trying to shoe string a budget for Internet marketing know how hard it is to get folks to our sites. We can build highly valuable sites with great info and search capabilities, but if nobody knows that the site is there, WHO CARES? This gentleman was basically telling me that if I wanted to compete as a racecar driver, I would be one of the very best drivers out there who is wearing a blindfold.
I'm doing all of the things that I know to do; blogging, updating content, using specific keywords, page titles, site headings and more. In a market like Dallas, TX, the competition for the most searched keywords is unbelievable. I am committed though to improving on our 120,000 hits per month.
When we moved our Assist 2 Sell office about a year ago, we decided that we wanted to adopt a nearby school in order to give back to the community. We chose Sky View Elementary School. Then, we did something a little weird.
We waited until after school started last year and asked the teachers what school supplies they needed. This allowed us to really provide what they needed. Many of the children are not able to get all of the supplies that they need, and many of the supplies that are donated from other sources are the typical paper, pencils and glue. We delivered pencil boxes, dry erase markers, back packs, book bags, binders, and all sorts of other requested items. THEY LOVED IT, and we did too.
Soooo, we are at it again. We will be delivering school supplies about two weeks into this years Fall semester in order to help our friends at Sky View continue to improve both in the education that they provide, and the culture that they create for their kids. If you would like to contribute, please contact us through our website at www.4DallasHomes.com. We also collect turkeys and hams at Thanksgiving for families from Sky View that don't have a traditional meal. More on that later.
As a flat fee brokerage, we are not always met with open arms when a transaction starts. Usually though, by the time the transaction is complete we have a great friend on the other side of the deal. We regularly get great feedback from other agents who say that they "loved working with" us,
or "...if other full price brokers worked as hard and as smoothly as Assist 2 Sell does, the industry would be a lot better off." We hear it all of the time. The key is HEAR IT. We don't get much of this stuff in writing. I would love to post it to our website and on blogs so that folks in our area would see how hard we work to serve our clients and our peers in the business. Maybe I'll get more bold and start asking these folks if they'll email me something. I don't want to do anything without someone's permission though...
Check us out at www.4DallasHomes.com. Maybe we will get the green light to post some agent testimonials.
I have a team of agents and support staff that I work extremely hard to motivate, train, equip and support to dominate our market. We aren't the clear leader in our market yet, but after 18 months we have made great strides in that direction. I would love to hear some feedback from offices that have achieved a significant portion of the listing inventory in your market.
I am a real estate broker in Lake Highlands (Dallas, TX.) These are my thoughts on real estate related activity. If you have a topic that you would like my thoughts on, by all means please contact me.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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