I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the Jake Series. I, myself, have become attached to him, so you'll probably see him around occasionally.
As you may have figured out, Jake is me. Jake's story is my story, although of course that I didn't "discover" SOI on Active Rain back in 1996, and, truth be told, I did struggle with my expenses during my high-production years (although I didn't spend the money on personal marketing; I spent it going WAY above and beyond what was necessary to service my listings which may have contributed somewhat to my SOI success. Got lots of referrals.) But otherwise, his story pretty much follows my own real estate career.
SOI came naturally to me; in fact, it wasn't until I discovered the online real estate community that I realized most agents didn't have a strong SOI business model. I was stunned that agents were beating the streets the way they were, when plenty of business was surely just sitting there, waiting to be plucked! Thus, began my passion for spreading the word.
SOI was natural to me BECAUSE I was/am an introvert, not IN SPITE of that fact. Confused? Well, my fellow Ntros will understand this better than the Extros, probably. We introverts tend to overanalyze everything before we do it. We always look at the situation from the other guy's perspective (it can be paralyzing sometimes, but often it works to our benefit). We ask ourselves "What's in it for HIM?" before asking "What's in it for ME?" Yeah, seriously, we do!
So, therefore, before we implement a marketing strategy or even make a phone call, we ask ourselves how the other person might receive us (our farming postcard or phone call, etc.). For example, my very first broker handed me a stack of Dorky Announcement Cards and told me to mail them out to everyone I knew. I looked at that DAC and was puzzled. It was a glossy, flashy, "professionally" done postcard extolling the virtues of Coldwell Banker and, of course, the professionalism and dedication of the real estate agent whose business card was enclosed.
I thought it was silly. I mean, what would I do if I received this card? Toss it, probably, with barely a second glance. So, I wrote my own announcement letter. Seemed like a no-brainer.
My friend Loreena Yeo wrote to me privately yesterday playing Devil's Advocate. Here's what she asked:
"Is Jake running on a stream of good luck? Say, he started in the mid-90s and had his 5 years into early 2001? I do not deny that Jake probably work very hard. But do you feel that a good momentum for an agent also depends on timing of when he enters into real estate? Would you say that in a down market, that it is probably harder to get the gears rolling? Even for an experienced agent, getting 25 transactions is not easy. What say you?"
Do you have the same question?
I'll answer it, from my perspective anyway... in a little bit. (Don't want to make this blog too long! I tend to do that; trying to quit).
Until then...
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