The New Year is around the corner and I can hardly believe yet another year is nearly history. I look around me at my office, read the blogs on Active Rain, listen to the news, etc. and I find it interesting what I have observed. I know this won't be a popular blog because the truth hurts and I don't have cute characters running across the screen but this is my honest assessment of what I have observed:
- A few agents are still sitting at their desks and waiting for the market to improve and business to start walking in thier front door.
- Many agents are spending more time on Active Rain while the market is slow and blogging their hearts away since the housing market is slow.
- Other Realtors are looking for some website that will be a lead generating machine that will send them the few serious leads that are out there to be had.
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Having survived 3 major real estate cycles I have seen which Realtors barely survive, which exist, and which prosper in any market.
I wrote a blog earlier in the year about "Getting off the bench and getting into the game". By this I meant that no football player that sits on the bench continuously will ever be remembered. On the other hand, a Realtor that sits in his/her office waiting for magic to happen will never be seen by the public.
Writing blogs 24/7 on Active Rain or on any other site won't bring in business unless they are lead generating blogs that can make you visible to the public and draw business in. We all know that the majority of blogs written on Active Rain are for sharing of information but few will draw business soon so we need to make a decision on how much time to invest in blogging. I know some members are spending hours a day creating either multiple blogs or time consuming blogs taking hours to write. Results will come from where we invest our time and energies. In other words, we reap what we sow. I am not discouraging blogging, I have seen great benefits from it. I am simply advising everyone to find a balance. If we are not getting the results we want in life we need to change our habits to get the results we want.
Websites that promise quality leads are few and far between. I have spoken to numerous Active Rain members that have paid thousands of dollars to lead generation websites only to have yet another tax deduction with no real return.
Truly successful Realtors are selling real estate the same way today as it was sold 25 years ago. The only thing that has changed is the incorporation of technology.
- Successful Realtors are rarely seen in the office. They are either meeting with buyers and sellers or involved with civic organizations like Optimist Club, Kawanis, Toastmasters, etc.
- All of their efforts keep them visible in the public's eye and they are more likely to generate leads simply by being visible in public.
- It basically is as simple as this: People are drawn to do business with those that are "in the game" and visible. Realtors that are continuously in contact with their sphere of influence and always involved in their board or civic groups will have a much higher chance of generating business. The media is also attracted to these kind of agents and will seek them out for interviews.
These are the traits I have seen in all successful Realtors. Simply doing the things day in and day out that give them the best opportunity to generate business.
Sorry this blog didn't knock your socks off with flash and lots of color and images. You see it took me 30 minutes to write and post this blog and then I was busy scheduling my to-do's for tomorrow.
My humble opinion
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