Week 4: Give Thanks

This is the first week of November... so we'll start to think about THANKS

Write your Thanksgiving letter, to your past clients, current clients & SOI on Monday-Weds.

Spend the rest of the week mailing them (hand addressing labels if you can).

Your letter will be brief, light, and friendly. It will THANK the recipient for helping make 2009 a great year for you (I don't care what your numbers were, they were GREAT!).

Add a brief paragraph about your family, something you've accomplished this year, something personal!

PS-You will add a PS at the end, reminding them you are always THANKFUL for referrals.

Deadline to mail: November 14.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Schuylkill Women in Crisis launches E-Newletter

Schuylkill Women in Crisis is a private, nonprofit domestic violence organization that has served the Schuylkill County community since 1983. All services are free, confidential and provided to all victims regardless of sex.

Now SWIC is reaching out via the Internet with its new E-Newsletter. Each month's edition will include topics of special interest to supporters of the local domestic violence agency, as well as special events and fundraisers.

The fall issues include a contest to name the monthly volunteer and community column. The winning entry will receive products from The Grateful Thread, SWIC's weaving shop. The Grateful Thread, a weaving business operated by Schuylkill Women in Crisis, will be open for holiday shopping from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Tuesday, December 1, through Saturday, December 5. Come see many popular items available in seasonal and holiday colors and also the handmade artistry of several consignment artists. The store is located at 20 North Centre Street, Pottsville. And check out The Grateful Thread’s new website and online store at www.gratefulthread.org.

To be added to the mailing list, visit SWIC's Web site at www.s-wic.org or e-mail swicagency@comcast.net.

For more information about SWIC services, call 622-3991.

In addition to assisting victims, Schuylkill Women in Crisis is working to confront the societal issues that contribute to this problem. SWIC is motivated by the belief that all individuals are entitled to live free of the fear and pain caused by emotional and physical abuse. While the agency provides services to all individuals regardless of gender, they acknowledge that women and children are most vulnerable to this problem.

Schuylkill Women in Crisis launches E-Newletter

For the first time, Schuylkill County will hold a judicial sale in the evening:

Thursday, November 12, 6 pm at the Schuylkill County Courthouse in Pottsville, PA

The county is hoping the evening hours will draw more bidders than a daytime sale.

NOTE: All buyers should use caution - what you buy is what you get. Caveat emptor.

70 homes in Schuylkill County municipalities will be available.

According to an article in the Pottsville Republican, no promises are made on the homes' conditions, but they  come with absolutely no strings attached. There are no mortgages, liens or tax commitments of any kind for buyers. That differs from a county upset sale, when houses that have been delinquent on taxes for at least two years are put up for sale with liens and other payments attached.

For more information, contact the Schuylkill County tax claim bureau at 570-628-1405

Here is the link to the county website: http://www.co.schuylkill.pa.us/

Schuylkill County Judicial Sale: November 12, 2009

This is an amusing post about a "haunted house" and whether or not you need to disclose it to a buyer. Enjoy!

Erica

I picked this notice up, from a service I subscribe to for publicity requests. Anyone out there who has successfully completed a SHORT SALE, they are looking for your feedback for a new book.

I know we have several high profile short sale experts here on ActiveRain, so perhaps this is a chance for you to get some publicity out of your knowledge.

Here is the info:

Brokers, agents and attorneys who have successfully completed a residential or commercial real estate short sale

Name: Craig Grella

Email: cgrella@gmail.com 

Deadline: 01:10pm PACIFIC - 30 October

Query: I am looking to speak with brokers, agents, attorney s and real estate consultants who have successfully negotiated or consulted on a residential or commercial real estate short sale. I will conduct a short interview with you for inclusion of your case study in my book. Along with the case study we'll publish your name, credentials, company, contact info, and logo. You will receive one free book in appreciation for your participation.

Week 3: What do you want in 2010?

Now write 2010 goals:

# of transactions a month?

How many listings do you want to carry at one time?

What is the total you want to TAKE HOME in the 12 months of 2010? Divide that in 12... that's your monthly income needed.

Backtrack, and if you're on a split, how much do you need to BRING IN to the company each month to make this amount?

What was your average sale in 2009 (use last week's data)? Use this number to calculate HOW MANY deals you'll need to close each month to bring in the desired income.

Look at your 2009 monthly numbers. If you want to hit your 2010 numbers, how will you do this? - more buyer appointments lead to contracts lead to sales - more listings taken (at appropriate pricing) lead to contracts lead to sales

If you need to increase your income, you can increase the average price of the homes you work with, or increase the number of properties you list, or increase the number of buyers you work with.

What is your PLAN on how to do this? Ideas?

Also in week 3, start your 10-10-10 calls: Every single day, call or email 10 past clients, 10 current clients/prospective clients, 10 people in your SOI. Every day you need to "touch" 30 people this week. That will be 150 by the end of the week!

Go to the office supply store and buy Thanksgiving or harvest themed paper.

If you missed Part 1 and Part 2 click here.

This week I hit a milestone: 300,000+ points on ActiveRain. Woo hoo!

I've been blogging here since July 2007, but I had kind of a slow start. I did what many new ActiveRainers do: logged in, filled out my profile, read a few posts, then forgot about ActiveRain for a while. I had just started my own brokerage firm in June 2007. so that was a busy summer for me. When I re-discovered this site, it was because I was looking for answers to a question and I remembered the folks at AR and thought someone could help me.

I blogged off and on that fall, posting about my part of Pennsylvania, and writing information pieces about Schuylkill County, PA.

I posted an occasional question or answer to someone else's post. It wasn't until spring of 2008 that I found my voice, and started blogging regularly.

A year after that original introduction to AR I hit my stride, and was starting every morning reading the newest featurerd posts, replying and commenting on others' posts, and blogging almost every day.

Along the way, I've discovered many benefits to this daily ritual / habit / addiction.

1. EDUCATION. I have learned so much here from reading the posts of other agents. If you want to learn something new, log on here every day and spend 30 minutes daily reading posts. Really, it's as good as any classroom experience. If you are new and don't know where to start, here's a list of some of my favorite bloggers who write EDUCATIONAL posts:

- Lenn Harley - the grand dame of copyright, web marketing, successful internet promotion of yourself, and so much more. (Love the new photo Lenn.)

- Katerina Gasset - Coach, trainer, and web guru. Want to know how to make your posts better, read Katerina's blog.

- Active Brad - Everything you could possibly want to know about ActiveRain is on Active Brad's blog.

2. CAMERADERIE. The AR gang is like the Cheers bar--where everyone knows your name! True you don't become "Norm!" in week one. It takes some time to get to know the others in the room. But if you sign on and hang out here regularly, you'll soon get the feel for the place. Read posts and learn who the "players" are, start commenting on other people's blog posts. Subscribe to a few bloggers and get to know them as people. In the beginning it may be daunting, but if you hang in there and start communicating back and forth, you'll soon become "one of the gang."

3. TRUE FRIENDSHIP. Building on 2, friendship comes naturally. I have made some truly great friends on this site... and it's not just online! When you do pick up the phone to call another Rainer, you have an instant rapport with them. When you meet in person, it's even better! I swear I know a few people on here better than my own neighbors. Anyone else feel that way? Write some posts here, and don't be surprised if someone reaches out to you someday and picks up the phone to ask for your advice, or just to chat. We help each other here, and are there for each other in good times and bad. I've had Rainers call me with tears of frustration, or anger  .... and good calls to celebrate a victory. A BIG THANKS to many of the Rainers I consider true friends: Loreena, Fran, Jennifer, Wendy, and so many more.

4. A SYMPATHETIC EAR. When you are having a bad day, or need to vent ... it's okay to vent here (just please make your post MEMBERS ONLY--we don't need members of the public reading our dirty laundry). Is your husband tired of hearing your complaints about that co-broke agent or your broker? Best friend unsympathetic because she doesn't understand our business? Post it here. Rant and rave to us, and then sit back and read the replies. Maybe we'll have you laughing at the situation in the end.

5. FUN! What would a place to hang out be without FUN? We have C Tann to thank for that, and her Club Chaos. If you are really new and have never been rainjacked, watch out. Between C Tann and TLW, you're toast. And you'll be ROTFL pretty quickly. Or TLW will pull out her shotgun and make you laugh. TLW even has her own CHANNEL for god's sake. That's big time here on AR.

If you're new here, welcome to ActiveRain. Hang out here and hang on tight! You might learn something, make some friends, and have fun in the process.

This list is great! Follow Chantal's 10 commandments and you won't screw up your home purchase.

If you missed Week 1, click here

Week 2: Gather/Analyze 2009 Data

Numbers geeks, you're going to love this week's task.

Pull out your goals sheet from 2008 (I hope you set goals!). What were you planning on doing in 2009? How did you do?

Write down each closing you had on a yellow pad or a notebook:

Address, Sale Price, Your Commission, Buyer/Seller names and -- most importantly --where did they come from? Last column is critical.

Identify: sign calls, newspaper ads, farming, internet lead, SOI or referral, repeat client

Where is your business coming from?Hopefully it's SOI, referral & repeat clients

Now break down your SOI into deeper categories: friends, neighborhood, church, Rotary Club, lenders, etc. Who is helping you by sending you referrals?

Where are you "wasting" money on your marketing?

Where should you INCREASE money spent? Hint--if you are getting good business from one channel, such as your website/internet leads, try putting more money into it and less into some other medium.

Did you hit your goals for 2009 (you know what closings should happen in Oct/Nov by now, so you can estimate this)? If not, why not? Where did you fall short?

On your yellow pad start a fresh page and pull out your 2009 date planner/appointment calendar.

For each month, add up:

- number of listing appointments you went on

- number of listings you TOOK

- number of buyer appointments you went on

- number of offers you wrote for your buyers

- number of these buyer offers accepted

- number of your listings that went pending

- number of your listings that closed (plus the dollar volume you closed, commission income, and how much you TOOK HOME)

HINT! If you do this every month as the year goes on, or every week, this task is easier. Start doing it this year.

Next Week: Using 2009 data to set 2010 goals.

I am torn -- to write this post or NOT write this post.

I want to write it to help other Rainers.

I am scared to death my competitors will read it.

But I'm posting it anyway ... besides, unless your name is Jonathan, if you're one of the 300+ agents in "my turf", you're not reading this post because you are NOT on Active Rain. Your loss. Jonathan and I are doing just fine here in the Rain, right Coles?

When I first started in real estate, in 2000, I started my career in January 2000. I started off with a BANG. I was new, fresh, and didn't know I was supposed to slack in January. I kicked butt.

My next year, I noticed agents around me slowing down in October, preparing for the big HOLIDAY freeze. All around me they whined and moaned how nobody buys houses in November. They took time off in November, and most barely worked in December. Nobody buys houses around Christmas, right?

Instead for working LESS hours, I worked more. Agents blew off floor time, and I stayed put at my desk. I got the calls they SHOULD have had. I worked Christmas eve showing houses, Christmas week, and yes throughout January. Year 1 in real estate, I sold over 1 million (in a county where average sale was -- back then -- about $60,000). Not bad.

My boss then commented that I was one of the only agents closing in January, and what a great KICK that was! To start the new year with CLOSINGS! Woo-hoo.

I developed a yearly routine, that I have done every year in October-November, and every January I have had closings. Instead of slowing down, then complaining the pipeline is EMPTY in 2010, speed up! Spend the next 4-8 weeks getting ready to TAKE OFF in 2010, and you'll be ready to kick butt too.

So here is part 1 of my October routine. I will post this series weekly, through November. I will post every Sunday from now till November 30, to tell you my secrets. Just don't tell anyone else.

WEEK 1 -- CLEAN HOUSE

Not my own house (although it really needs it). I clean up my database. I make sure I add anyone who should be in there (all my contacts, new and past clients, anyone at all who I met at a mixer or business function...). I clean up the emails, the addresses, add any info I have gathered since last clean up.

I go through my day planner and make sure everyone I have "touched" is now in this database.

Your database is worth GOLD. Add to it every week if you can. It'll make the annual cleanup so much easier!

If you don't have a good system, now is the time to CHANGE or FIND ONE. This year I have agonized over which one to use. I have tried trials and not found anything that is 100% perfect for me. But I must get off the fence now. I need something and I need to do it now. SO I'm jumping on board Top Producer. I tried it once and didn't like it. But the alternative is not cutting it right now. I am not pleased with outlook's limitations. So I'm trying TP again, and this time determined to learn it well.

This should take me all week to complete. It's crucial to the success of the rest of my program, to have the database up and running by the end of this week.