About a year of so ago I was watching the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" and while not overwhelmed by the movie, one part really made me pause. It is the part where the character is going to Italy and she tells the story of a poor man. Everyday this poor man goes to the statue of his favorite saint. He would pray everyday to the saint that he would win the lottery and not have money troubles anymore. For years the man prayed everyday to the saint. Finally one day the man, now older, was praying in front of the saint, when the saint came alive, grabbed the man by the shouldres and said, "son, please, buy a lottery ticket".
Funny, I heard this story and it was not until about a week later, I was wishing that I would get another listing or more buyers, when I asked myself, "have I bought my lottery ticket today?" I can tell you I had not. I sat down and over the next two weeks, completely overhauled my marketing and selling strategies. I am not necessarliy spending anymore money, but I am at least buying my lottery ticket each and everyday. There are many buyers and sellers out there, just look on your local MLS, but if you do give yourself a chance, very few will fall into your lap.
My "lottery" rules are:
1. Hand out three cards a day to someone I do not know, 6 if I miss one day, 9 if I miss two. Back to 3 after 9 because more than 9 is impossible. (a walk day counts!)
2. Walk my farms once every six weeks. That means a minimum of 3 hours each week spent in each neighborhood (I have six basic neighborhoods I farm)
3. Blog each day about my neighborhood, upcoming events or helpful tips.
4. Send out my free California Association of Realtors newsletter once per month via email.
5. Send a monthly card to all my past clients, neighbors and friends.
6. Actively use my business facebook account
7. Wear my name badge with Prudential on my shirt everywhere I go, except my one day when I get to be relaxed.
8. Maintain and keep a schedule. Outside of unforseen events, I work in my scheduled work hours.
9. Attend caravan every week and local town council meetings once each month.
10. Add every person I meet to my email or mailing distribution. Again, this is everyone!
11. Volunteer actively in my community, as possible.
12. Attend one educational event or class every quarter.
I want this to be a long term and fun career and somewhere along the way, I forgot that all the praying in the world cannot help if you do not put yourself in the way of opportunity. I do not want to be a "stealth" Realtor. Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows what I do for a living and that I take it very seriously. I am sure each of you have your own set of "lottery" rules and I would love to hear about them. After all of us have our own set of numbers we like to play!
Comments(2)