I had a close friend in college named Phil.    In the 1970's, Phil's dad, an immigrant, started a little Italian restaurant in Florida.   It was a small family business and the food was terrific.

As a young boy, Phil worked there with his family.  Phil bused tables until he turned 16.    At 16, he became a waiter.  He would go to high school all day and then wait tables at night.   He would do homework during breaks.  

People came from all over to eat there.  The business grew more than they ever dreamed.   They expanded the restaurant and soon they bought the hotel behind it.     They opened two more restaurant locations.  

When Phil graduated from high school he went away to college.   He did this for one reason.   He was determined to study business so that he could go back and further expand the family company.    The family business was all he'd ever known and was all he ever wanted to know.

When he graduated, in the late 80's, Phil went back home.   His Mom and Dad went into semi-retirement and Phil took over the business.  It was very successful and lucrative for Phil.

In the 90's the tech business started to take off.   Phil felt like the restaurant/hotel business, while profitable for him, was feeling stale.    It wasn't fun and exciting for him anymore.   It was a job....a great job, but still a job.   He was bored and depressed.   He hated going to work everyday.  He didn't feel like there was much growth potential in it personally or professionally.    He wanted to get in the tech business.

So, one day, he called a family meeting.   Phil tearfully told his Mom and Dad he was quitting after over 20 years with the company.   He wanted to do something in the tech business.   His parents reluctantly accepted his resignation and put his younger brother, who had also gone to college, in charge of the company.

It was a very courageous move.   With no experience at all, Phil went to work for a small software company.   He was making very little money and he started on the ground floor but he had incredible renewed energy and passion.   

It turned out to be a great decision.  Today, he is the Vice President of large publicly-traded tech company. 

How does this story relate to the real estate business?  Because I read something this week and it made me think of Phil and his story of courage and passion.

Seth Godin is a marketing genius.  His books make the New York Times best-selling list and his blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ is one of the most-read marketing blogs in the world.   Many on Active Rain have commented on Godin before.

Godin wrote a very popular book, called "The Dip."   In this book, he challenges the old adage, "winners don't quit, and quitters don't win." 

He argues that this is simply wrong.    Every new project or job starts out fun and exciting and then it gets hard and less fun.   If it gets to a real low point of really hard and not fun at all, this is called "The Dip."    Once the dip occurs you have to ask yourself the very serious question of whether the goal you had originally set out on is worth the hassle, pain and stress.  

When you face "the dip," are you simply in a temporary rut that will get better if you keep pushing? 

Or will it never get better no matter how hard you push??  He calls this the "cul-de-sac."

Godin says that being able to escape these dead ends quickly while staying focused and motivated is what really counts when striving for success.

If you are truly at the dead end and there is no coming back, there is no disgrace in quitting to concentrate on something where you do see opportunity.

Seth's book reminded me of Phil.   Phil quit the only business he had ever known and disappointed his family.   However, he wasn't a loser for quitting.    He became a big winner because of it.

Last week Seth Godin wrote about today's real estate on his blog.  The post was called, "Advice for real estate agents (quit now!)"  Check it out at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/02/advice-for-real.html.  Others here have blogged about Seth's post.

His words, I believe, should be read by everyone in our business.  

In the blog, he writes about the many people who joined our business in recent years and made their success, in large part, because of low interest rates, speculators, and easy loans.  He calls them the "order takers" and he is truly encouraging them to quit the business.

Those days are over and will not be coming back soon.

However, for the rest of us, who want to be in the business long-term, respect what it takes to be successful in this business, and where "whining" is not an option, he believes there is a tremendous opportunity in "micro-specialization." 

A new agent told me recently about calling her broker's assistant to order new business cards.  She is concentrating solely on high-rise condos and has immersed herself in learning all she needs to know about them.  

So, on her business cards, she requested to put "High-Rise Condo Expert" as opposed to "Real Estate Agent."   The assistant told her, "we really frown on that here; you don't want to limit yourself that much."   Hogwash.

Godin argues that kind of thinking today is the thoughts of an "order-taker."   

Godin writes, "you're either the best in the world (where ‘world' can be a tiny slice of the environment) or you're invisible." And, Godin adds, if you are going to make that kind of commitment you have to give up everything else and obsess over it. 

Become an expert in something.   It is very difficult today to be everything to everyone like "Las Vegas' Best Real Estate Agent" and be successful.  

However, being the "Top Condo Expert in Henderson" or the "Strip High-Rise Condo Expert" may be narrower but, likely, more effective.  

The market is all about foreclosures today.  If you were known as the "Foreclosure Expert of Summerlin," a very popular master planned community in Las Vegas, you would probably need more assistants today.   

How about the "Golf Course Homes Foreclosure Expert," the "Custom Home Foreclosure Expert," or the "Under $200,000 Foreclosure Expert?"

There is so much excitement surrounding the resort corridor of our city.  Palms Place and Trump Tower will soon open their doors and CityCenter is not far behind.   Who will stake their claim as the "top resale expert" in these buildings?  How about in your city?  Where are the previously hot now fallen communities?

How about being an expert in homes for large families?  Or an expert in homes for single mothers?  If you were looking for a condotel on the Strip who would you call?    How about an age-restricted condo in North Las Vegas?    Why can't it be you?

It is my dream to someday buy a condo at the beach in San Diego.   I especially like the Mission Bay/Pacific Beach area.  So, like all dreamers, when I need to motivate myself, I visit some websites and look at the listings.   The websites I visit are the "condo experts in Mission Bay/Pacific Beach."   Their offices are down there and I can tell they know the area.

"San Diego's Best Condo Agent" has no chance to earn my business.

If you are going to take Godin's advice and become the "foreclosure expert in Summerlin," you may have to stop going on listing appointments in Anthem, another once booming area in Las Vegas.   

Once you make that commitment to be the "best in the world" you have to immerse yourself in it.   Move there, be there, meet the neighbors.

Now, I know a lot of you will disagree with this and say "business is business and I am not turning down any of it."   I am not blaming you one bit.  But if it's not working out as you want today, what makes you think it will work out tomorrow?

Godin goes on to describe a new website for real estate professionals to help achieve this kind of focus, "Mayor of Your Own Zip Code."  You can get started by visiting here http://www.squidoo.com/welcomerealtors.

Or how about simply reintroducing yourself to your clients??

Godin writes, "according to the National Association of Realtors, 91% of all Realtors never contact the buyer or the seller of a home after the closing.  Not once. Wow. Someone just spent a million dollars with you and you don't bother to call or write?"

Godin then adds, "the opportunity during the current pause (and yes, it's a pause) is to find, one by one, the people who would benefit from hearing from you and then earn the right to talk to them.  Earn the right to send them a newsletter or a regular update or a subscription to your blog.  NOT to talk about what matters to you, but to give them information (real information, not just data) that matters to them.   Some of you will stick with the standard business card with the standard photo, the standard office and the standard ad strategy and the standard approach to making the phone ring. It's going to be a long haul if that's your route."

The greatest use of your time in the next few weeks could be to put together a list of every person you sold a house to over the past few years and start sending them valuable information they can use.    If you don't have this list, call your favorite escrow company.   There is data on every home sold and the broker and salesperson on record.    Even though you didn't keep it, it's still available to you.

Maybe today's real estate market is not the business for you.   Maybe you simply don't have the enthusiasm for it to try new things or to execute the tried and true marketing methods that your broker has been pounding in your head the past few months.  

Maybe you long for the days of being a very well-paid "order taker" and you just plan on waiting for it to happen again.

There is no shame in quitting this business to move on to something that's more exciting and fun for you.  It may bring you the financial rewards you so hopefully sought on that first day of real estate school and realized when the market was on fire.

There is no shame in trading in a career you hate or don't see a future in for one you may love and excel in.    It may be time to quit.  Or its time to energize and specialize. 

Which one are you choosing?