Have you been chasing your tail? It is better than chasing someone else's...

I met with my office manager yesterday.  We were meeting to go over my business from the previous year, and to take a look at my expectations for 2012.

During the meeting, my manager noted that my sales had risen 93% from 2010 to 2011.

"Wow," he said.  "What did you do different last year?" 

"Absolutely nothing," I answered with a hint of pride, knowing that my answer would surprise him...

"I did the exact same things,"  I continued.  "I wrote my online market reports, I hung my newsletters, I held a lot of open houses, I was very active on several social media sites..."

"Bottom line, I was consistent, and it is starting to pay off."

"That's good," my manager finished, pleased with the direction my business is headed.

When I first became a real estate agent in the fall of 2005, I was so excited to absorb sales strategies from every "expert" I could find. 

I was a sponge.  I went to every meeting and every sales training class I could find.  And I tried just about everything...

I door knocked, cold called, wrote hand written notes.  I tried "pop bys", calling old clients for referrals, and worked on my website.  I wore a tie, I started a blog, and I was active on several social media sites.

Bottom line, I was willing to try anything that someone told me worked...

I tried it all.  And it all worked.  A little.

But by the time I was getting good at any sales discipline, a new "expert" came along with some strategy that insured success selling real estate...

"Boy, I gotta start doing what that guy does," I thought.  "He sold 50 houses last year.  He is a mega producer.  He must be right..." 

But I never was consistent.  I was always trying the next sure thing...

After a couple years of this, I realized not every strategy was right for me.

Only then did I start to become the agent that I imagined I could be.  One that loved his job.  One that felt like he was helping people, not selling people.  One that could make the phone ring...

Bottom line, I started to develop my own style of selling real estate.  And you know what?

It worked.  Not right away, mind you.  It certainly has been a long journey.  But my business is growing every day.

And I am going to keep at it in 2012.  I am going to be consistent.  Doing the things that work for me.  Not some other "mega agent".

So if you every feel like you are chasing your own tail in this crazy world of real estate sales, that is OK.

It is better than chasing someone else's...

Ken