Not that I want anybody's attention, but for me it's kind of a cheap thrill, really.

I'm going to break 30,000 points now on ActiveRain. I feel like Homer Simpson now. Wooo-hooo!

Milestones or self-imposed goals are good to have. How many of you set goals every month, then take specific approaches to HIT your goal? 

REALTORS are sales people. We need to stretch our brains a bit, and work them like any other muscle in our body. I'm a big soggy around the mid section because I have not been exercising my stomach very much. And at age 40-something... it shows.

I'd love to have the six pack abs, but it's nothing something I'm really focused on, so it follows if you're not focusing on achieving your goal, it's not a stretch of the imagination to see why you're not going to get it.

The age of information is here. We make money by out thinking many of our competitors. Do you need to be college educated to make craploads of money? Nope. Bill Gates dropped out of College and so did I. I find myself making good money and I rather like the company I'm in if I'm compared to other college drop outs like Bill Gates of Microsoft.

Making money, being successful simply boils down to two things:

1.) Brain Exercises. Doing daily brain crunching.

2.) Learn what works. Find a REALTOR making $100,000 - $250,000 a year and buy them lunch. Bring a note pad and start Working the muscle between your ears. Ask the successful REALTOR how they did it. What do they do every day, how do they think, how do they look at customers. 

Because at the end of the day, the REALTOR in Hollywood that closes on one home, pockets $92,000 in sales commissions. You on the other hand, work in Ohio and your last sales commission was more like $4,200 after your REALTOR took out the desk fees and your last commission advance.  

Let's take a look at this year for your goals. Where are you at right now?

Did you set the goal for hitting a six digit income this year from your sales commissions? Those of you in the back, who got a commission advance. Sorry. Put your hands down. I'm talking to the REALTORs who letting six months of the year slip through their fingers like sand through an hourglass. 

Did you hit your mid year target on June 30th? Okay, if not, why? Did you get 50% of your target sales commissions? Or was it more like 25%?

You have six more months in the year hear. Be happy and try some different tactics to achieve a really good end of year sales commission target. July just started but now it's July 2th and August will be here next week. Next thing you know will be taking time to carve the Jack O Lantern, taking your kids around the block to trick or treat. Then it's Thanksgiving followed by Christmas.

You wake up and it's 2010, January 1st and another New Year. This year you promise to set better goals, and this year you promised your spouse the trip to Europe or Cabo. But unless you really set some goals and take specific actions to achieve them... it will be another disappointing year for many of you. 

Here's the secret that will make you rich: Rome wasn't built in a day. But you must focus on building it -- and understand that you will never stop building your business. Every day, you will build more onto your business. Once you understand this simple rule, once you put yourself on the road of being a life time student of business and understanding that people don't buy a house... they buy into a lifestyle.  The day you understand these things is the day you are on the raod to making a lot of money.

I've made just over $2 million dollars over the past five years. Getting there took me six years. The day I landed page one #1 on Google was the day my earnings increased substantially. The day your website naturally ranks on Google on page one is the day your cash cows start to come home, too. 

STOP wishing for the old ways and old days to come back. They're gone. 

The abacus was replaced a long time ago with your HP Financial Calculator.

The Real Estate BOOK was replaced by a computer.

Email has replaced your fax machine.

Your Sony digital camera was replaced by a 360 virtual tour system.

Next time home buyers in the 20-30 something range don't read your drip emails and now hang out at Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 

Does anyone think that REALTORS tomorrow will be replaced by a Robot? Robo-REALTOR? Yuk. I can't think of that ever happening.  

Why is it that some REALTORS never hit their sales targets?

It's not because you're stupid. It's not because some of you are lazy. I've heard hundreds of lame excuses like "I'm no good with computers," or that you can't figure out how to Chirp on Twitter or how to create a corporate presence on Facebook or LinkedIn. 

There are lots and lots of books on Amazon that will show you how to get good at Internet marketing, better at understanding how next time home buyers find homes today, and how you can kick Broker Bob's ass and out sell, out negotiate and make your business stand out from the pack. 

There's just one thing countless REALTORS need to know before you ever start walking down the road of success. EDUCATION. And lots of it. 

I'm a big fan of self help books and in my last post, I gave you some good books to get from Amazon. But those of you like me, who don't have very much time to read, how about listening?

Amazon bought into a firm not too many years ago called Audible.com.

Audible.com is a place where you can spend 19.95 a month, and you'll get access to thousands of business books on audio. MP3 to be exact. So for $19.95 a month, you get two (2) legacy credits and any book you want to download is just (1) credit.

More good stuff later. I promised the family some relax time, so I am quitting for the weekend and I am going to spark up the BBQ for some my famous Texas BBQ Beer Brisket with an Ancho Chile Glazed Shiner Bock glaze.

-- bartman