all blogs: Some Wise Words from The Authentic Agent
- 04/14/11 02:26 AM
Don't you just love it when someone says something so wise, yet so simple that you slap your forehead and say - "I wish I'd thought of that... and why didn't I?"
Last week we did a teleseminar show in the SWS Virtual Studio called "The Authentic Agent," led by my good friend Dennis Giannetti. The tagline of the show was that we would to help real estate agents "create balance in their checkbooks... and their lives." Neato Frito.
During the show, Dennis came up with some great little phrases that had the audience saying "Aha... now THAT makes a lot of sense!" Thought … (15 comments)
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all blogs: 20 Ways to Make $100K this year... OR NOT! - Part Deux - The 20 Ways
- 04/09/11 02:06 AM
Well, thank you AR Gods for featuring my little teaser blog about 20 Ways to Make $100k This Year... OR NOT! As promised, here are those 20 ways you could make (or NOT make) $100k by simply attending (or NOT attending) to "minor" details.
1. Do you have a photo on your business card? ("To Photo or Not to Photo?")
2. Do you follow up on referrals sent or received? ("Ten Tips for Being a Good Refer-ee")
3. Does the Contact Me link on your website work?
4. Does the link to your website in your email signature work?
5. … (19 comments)
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all blogs: 20 Ways to Make $100K this year... OR NOT!
- 04/08/11 02:32 AM
Last September I posted a blog called "To Photo or Not to Photo" where I raised the age-old question of whether or not to put your (hopefully) smiling face on your business card. (I vote YES).
One of the comments on that blog was something along the lines of "Can anyone actually demonstrate that their picture on a card resulted in business for them?" Excellent question! My response to the commenter was:
"There is no one magic bullet to success. Clients come in from dozens of sources - I got a listing once because my lawn guy saw my RE/MAX signs in the … (58 comments)
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all blogs: Prospecting for Real Estate Agents - Why You Might Want to Keep Your Mouth Shut and BE a Secret Agent!
- 04/06/11 12:59 AM
It's funny - I notice that the questions that come into my in-box often have a common theme... one month it's grouping and categorizing your sphere, the next it might be getting feedback for showings, the next maybe it's making open houses more productive.
Well, this month's most popular topic seems to be about expanding one's sphere of influence without being a pest about it.
Just in the last week I've been approached by three different agents who realize they need to beef up their spheres of influence - and quickly - but don't know how to do it without coming … (22 comments)
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all blogs: Improving the Balance in Your Checkbook... and Your Life - a Free SWS Teleseminar
- 04/05/11 02:01 AM
Right on the heels of last week's "Choosing the Perfect Prospecting Strategies for YOU" teleseminar, this week we're continuing the theme of "being true to yourself" with a very special show. Dennis Giannetti will join me in the SWS Virtual Studio for a discussion about what he calls "The Authentic Agent."
If you've ever heard Dennis speak before, you know that he brings a lot of fantastic insight to the wonderful world of selling real estate. He'll encourage you to search YOUR soul for answers to your questions, and helps you do just that with fun little exercises and analogies that … (5 comments)
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all blogs: Real Estate Compensation - Alternatives to the Commission-Based Model (and yes, we still make a good living!)
- 03/31/11 01:34 AM
Last weekend I posted a blog that generated lots of impassioned comments (I love it when that happens). The topic du weekend was the sacred cow of real estate - our compensation structure that pays us based on the price of the product we sell.
My firm belief is that there is very little correlation between the price of the product and the value of our service. In other words, my efforts on a $1M property are not worth 10 times more than my efforts on a $100,000 property (or conversely worth 1/10th on the lower-priced property). In fact, sometimes that … (22 comments)
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all blogs: "Choosing the Perfect Prospecting Strategies for YOU" Free Teleseminar at SWS
- 03/29/11 03:54 AM
If things go as planned, my next book will be released sometime in late April... so this week's show is a sneak preview of what's in that book and, frankly, a little pre-release marketing to boost pre-sales! (How's that for transparent?)
As the title implies, we're going to talk about choosing the right prospecting methods for you - or, as the subtitle of my book promises "Discovering the Perfect Prospecting Strategies for Wonderful, Extraordinary, One-of-a-Kind YOU." Because you ARE wonderful, you ARE extraordinary and you ARE one-of-a-kind! And your approach to building your business should reflect that.
Because you know what? You CAN … (6 comments)
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all blogs: "No I Won't Reduce My Commission! Do You Expect Me to Work for FREE?" (Um, let's do some math)
- 03/26/11 02:21 AM
Bear with me this morning as I rant a little bit about one of the Sacred Cows of the real estate industry (specifically, the compensation model that pays us based on the price of the property).
I recently read an article written by a real estate agent bemoaning a potential buyer client's request that the agent reduce his fee by half. Seems the buyer found a property on his own and just needed help getting the property under contract and to closing.
The agent was, predictably, outraged and offended. How dare this buyer ask him to reduce his fee! How dare he imply that … (131 comments)
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all blogs: Do You "Disclose" a Home's Obvious Deficiencies in Your Marketing?
- 03/18/11 12:39 AM
Many years ago, I had a sweeeet little listing in Denver. A 1940's stucco Tudor, with all the fixtures and features Tudor-philes love - glass doorknobs, art-deco light fixtures, oak floors with inlays, decorative tile window sills, vintage fireplace... it was an easy house to fall in love with.
And buyers did... over and over again. Fell in love, that is... UNTIL...
<key spooky music>
...they reached the back bedroom. Unfortunately, the entire northwest corner of this sweeeeet little stucco Tudor was sinking. Not only did the floor slope alarmingly, there were 1"-2" cracks all along the back wall and across the … (54 comments)
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all blogs: Are Termite Bonds Worth the Money?
- 03/17/11 03:31 AM
In 2005 and 2006 I bought three homes in Alabama. Coming from the Denver Desert, I'd had no experience with termites (or fleas, for that matter, but today we're talking about termites) - so when one of the homes I bought featured a "termite bond" I was unimpressed. The other two homes did not have that particular feature, so I didn't think much about it.
The following year I got a bill to renew my termite bond, and I did. Ditto every year after that, although every year I debated whether it was a good use of my $220. I … (16 comments)
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all blogs: Life's Too Short to Feel Crummy All the Time (A Free Teleseminar)
- 03/09/11 12:22 AM
We're having a different kind of show this week in the SWS Virtual Studio... and I really hope you'll join us and bring all your friends. Even if our topic du-jour doesn't apply specifically to you, I'm absolutely positive it applies to someone you know and love... and could change their (and your) life.
Your health.
All of us feel crummy from time to time. Whether it's as a result of something we did to ourselves (stayed out too late, indulged more than we intended, etc,.) or something beyond our control, feeling less than 100% is a normal part … (13 comments)
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all blogs: The “YAY-ME” Letter to Your Sphere of Influence
- 03/07/11 01:58 AM
I'm a big fan of communicating with one's sphere of influence (SOI) via the written word - with the caveat that those written words are YOUR written words, not some words written by someone else who doesn't know you!
If your SOI "hears" from you on a reasonably regular basis - and again - that means they hear from YOU (not that mysterious someone else), they'll remember you, and even better, they'll remember you FONDLY. I've written about this concept once or twice or a dozen times - see the list below for related blogs.
Anyway, agents ask me all the … (33 comments)
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all blogs: The More People Who Know You, Like You and TRUST You, the More Real Estate You Will Sell (Part 3)
- 03/01/11 12:04 AM
Oops. A few weeks ago I promised to finish up a series I was doing on KLT - The Know, Like and Trust Principle which goes something like: "The more people who know you, like you and trust you, the more real estate you'll sell."
In the first two segments of the series I talked about the KNOW and LIKE factors - you can read those here and here.
But this third factor - the TRUST factor is probably the most important. Because even if a whole bunch of people KNOW you and a whole bunch of people LIKE you, they … (8 comments)
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all blogs: $5.00 Charge for Whining...
- 02/19/11 12:36 AM
I was in a UPS Store yesterday here in Pensacola. Actually, it wasn't a UPS Store - it was some other Pack-n-Ship store, but anyway...
Behind the counter was a cute little sign that said "$5 Charge for Whining."
HA. HA.
Now, I wasn't whining at the time and had no intention to, but I still felt a little insulted, even scolded. Call me sensitive, but I didn't feel it was appropriate for an establishment I was honoring with my business to pro-actively scold me if I chose to make a complaint.
How is this relevant to the real estate industry?
… (47 comments)
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all blogs: Feeling Sad? Discouraged? Low on Mojo? Try this...
- 02/18/11 12:20 AM
My long-term readers may remember what they're about to read from one of my very first SWS newsletters.
I wrote it during a time where, in retrospect, I realize was one of the most stressful periods of my life. And while my life is no longer one big stress-fest, I know that many of you are struggling to keep your mood up and your Mojo intact. It's a tough business we're in!
***
Here is a simple trick I discovered that does some serious stress mitigation, takes almost no effort... and doesn't include red wine or little white pills. Thought I'd share it with you in … (28 comments)
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all blogs: Using Your Contact Management System to be the Best Thing to Happen to Your Clients (A Free SWS Webinar)
- 02/16/11 12:01 AM
In January, we did two shows on the subject of contact management; the first was an overview of how Contact Management can improve your business and the second was a show-n-tell webinar on using a contact management system to run a sphere of influence-based business. (if you missed either show, you can purchase a recording of them at the SWS Bookstore or join Club SWS and access recordings of all recent and future shows.)
On February 17th, we'll pick up where we left off and talk about using a contact management system to run your business (and even your life). We'll … (8 comments)
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all blogs: The More People Who Know You... and LIKE YOU... and Trust You, the More Real Estate You Will Sell (Part 2)
- 02/14/11 03:35 AM
The KLT Principles: People Buy from Those They Know, Like and Trust, andThe More People Who Know You, Like You and Trust You, the More Real Estate You Will Sell
Last week I wrote about the importance of ensuring that more of the world's people KNOW you if you want to enjoy a consistent stream of real estate business in your pipeline.
Today I'm gonna ramble about the second factor of the KLT Principle - that bit about whether or not those people LIKE you! Because, if a whole bunch of people KNOW you, but most of them don't LIKE you, all … (14 comments)
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all blogs: The More People Who KNOW You, Like You and Trust You, the More Real Estate You Will Sell (Part 1)
- 02/10/11 12:47 AM
The More People Who Know You, Like You and Trust You, the More Real Estate You Will Sell
Ever heard this sweet little ditty? Sure you have, or some version of it. Perhaps you've heard the version that goes "People buy from those they know, like and trust;" Bob Burg made this statement in Endless Referrals, and my good friend Dennis Giannetti refers to it as the "KLT" Principle.
Neato Frito. We're probably all in agreement that the KLT Principle is true.
But let's say it again - out loud:
"The more people who know me and like me and … (22 comments)
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all blogs: Responding with Soul to Seller Objections - a Free SWS Teleseminar
- 02/08/11 09:12 AM
Last summer, Mollie Wasserman (the founder of ACRE, the Accredited Consultant in Real Estate program and author of The End of 6%) joined me for a show about defending your commission - how to feel good about what you charge to list a home and helping your sellers feel good about it, too.
At the end of the show, we were pummeled with questions (in the nicest sense of the word) and promised to reconvene "soon" to chat about it some more.
Well, um, time flies and here we are, more than six months later finally getting to it.
This next episode of … (5 comments)
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all blogs: Is it Mercenary to "Use" Your Sphere of Influence for Business?
- 02/02/11 01:46 AM
Excerpted from my soon-to-be-released third book, Prospect with Soul (woo hoo!!)
Is it Mercenary to "Use" Your Sphere of Influence for Business?I often toss around the phrase "You never know who might lead you to your next $10,000 paycheck."
What I mean by that is that in our business, we get big paychecks we perform. And since most people you're going to meet either own or know someone who owns or wants to own real property, most people you're going to meet can potentially be or introduce you to your next client.
I've always been pretty transparent as to my "mercinariness" … (23 comments)
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