"Get off the computer and go sell"  Can't I stay just a little bit longer?  Isn't talking to actual people way too confrontational?  You're right, Andrew.  It's all about creating personal relationships which has to be done in person.

Andrew,

You're just a touchie/feely kind of guy!!! Good post! Thanks,   Fran

Andrew- Get off the computer???? I dont understand. I mean all my prospective clients are visiting my website and emailing me. As much as I hate to admit this when I started I thought that people would find me when I started in real estate. Now I realize I MUST go find them. It's not hard and once I've found them they usually send others my way too. Excellent post I truly enjoy reading your blog.

Best,

Scott 

Lenza - Your three bullet points at the start of this post are very telling.  I also tend to buy into the Gordon Geiko philosophy of give me someone smart, hungry, & poor.

You are so right. I am laughing at the "sugar mommy", I've never heard it like that before. :)

Andrew,  I see both sides of the coin here.  I think that to many hide behind the internet and use it as an excuse.        

Andrew, you make such a great point!  It's all about picking up the golden telephone and dialing the numbers on the golden rolodex!  And while I could really use a good sugar daddy right now, I've reached the age where men see me as their potentail sugar mommy!  Yikes!

Hi Andrew,

Don't know about the foot massages,that would just gross me out, but get the well made point.  I had written a post about an agent who was going to start door knocking and the comments somewhat surprised me. There are a good number of agents who are doing this and winning the business.  Maybe it's because they are making personal connections.  Surely they are getting off their computers and selling:-) 

HELLO!!!!!!  I am so pleased that I could be linked to on your post...What a concept...call someone, find a resturant that you can have an appointment with in a certain booth every morning...GO to Chamber meetings, ask for business in line, and where ever you are. Me, I feel that 20 or more contacts a day is a dead minumum, and then what do you do after lunch... Best of luck to all that work hard and deserve it!!!

C ya ANdrew

Hi Andrew--not such a bad suggestion! I am remembering last year about this time when a "fellow" broker was spotted on a pay phone at the end of the bar at Bobby Vans in Bridghampton---I pointed him out to one of my friends who was sitting there at my table and we laughed; what a "jerk" someone said (maybe it was me?). An hour later I could not believe my eyes as he was STILL ON THE PHONE! I laughed again and made some unmemorable joke about "Death of a Salesman" and we all had a good chuckle...well guess what. This January this guy was named the NUMBER ONE BROKER IN THE HAMPTONS  for 2007!!! 

We all need to start thinking back to our "Rolodex" days....there-in lies success!!!

I think in order to do well, you need to have a few "evangelists" out there referring you like crazy. I have some former clients, and she emails once a week letting me know who she gave my card to.  I make sure each client I close is as close to a "future evangelist" for me as possible.  I'm not a door knocking, cold calling kinda gal, so I have to be more creative. 

Bravo!   I've read so many blog posts about education,  how -to-dress, and such that I just want to scream. We are in the people business.  Develop the relationship, care about the people and success follows.

Joe, Your perspective is "not ordinary" -- how many times a day do you read that about your monicker? This is a people business, unless we start selling house to toasters and DVD's.

Fran, Only in the dark and half in the bag.

Sardi, "Smart, hungry and poor" ... how about stupid, hungry and poor so at least it's 2 out of 3 for some of us?

Scott, I am all for blogging real estate content. I try to put up one creative piece for every Localism. But to tweak every graphic and respond to reciprocate every comment? I just can't do it. Not enough time. The more folks I meet the better for my biz and Rolodex ... and perhaps theirs too.

Lindsay, You know you're trapped in the web of a Sugar Mommy when she says, "Aw c'mon. It's not going to be that bad." That was actuallty a SNL joke over the weekend. The have this "Cougar Den" spoof.  

Andrew: 

Thanks for letting me know about this post.  I'm behind with my reading due to the move. 

I really wish agents could just grasp this simple philosophy.   It's about people you make contact with....the ones face to face...not the ones monitor to monitor.  If things aren't happening.... go make them happen.  Manna doesn't fall from heaven...not even a Rabbi could make that one happen!  You must be like Moses...speak to the rock or go strike it.  :)

I'm not saying that blogging isn't important.  It is.  It is a great way to get business but I'm not one for putting all my eggs in one basket.

What would we do if someone actually called and said lets go do business.. i run into folks that cant actaully do a contract...Or a counter...In this market, we should be finding deals, finding cash investors, writing offers...this is still a make it happen world, and while technolgy is a great part of it, the lead I just got while sitting in the lobby of a auto repair shop would not have happened if I had tried to send him an email...we have an appointment to look at a property this afternoon, and i will follow up with an offer.......and then shop it to as many people as possible before my time is up....

I always enjoy your posts...  

Now this should be a feature for all newbies. I just love this! I may print it out for my office. Did you know I have another quote of yours posted from way back? You always cut right to the core of the issue and I appreciate it. When I'm asked how I stay so busy during these tough times, I have a simple answer: I work!  Because one can be smart and cute, but that isn't enough anymore.

Marc, I got into the whole AR co-depdendency awhile back. My business suffered. My relationships suffered. Kind of hooks you in -- like digital angel dust. (Not to make light of any addiction.)

Patricia, Be careful. There are many young handsome men out there that do not want to work for a living.

Rebecca, I don't see anything wrong with door-knocking. I see many towns in New Jersey implementing the requirement of a solicitation license to do so.

Norvelli, Your friends realize you're in transition, Mike. You may have taken a hiatus but you are not forgotten. See all those Bic lighters aflame in the audience? All for you, Norvell.

Paula, Look at that. Go figure. I love your comment. Here's a gent without all the new fangled technology. Going old school and low tech and he's Number One. There is more than an "ear"of truth in there, with a "kernel" of wisdom on the barbie.

Andrew - so true.  Technology is wonderful, but it is only one tool in your sales and marketing arsenal.  You've got to be active, and make those personal connections in a way that you find natural and comfortable. Great post!

Melina, Did you ever hear of the book RAVING FANS? Very appropo to your comment. I'm with you. I try to bend the spoon of creativity. Hey there could a blog in there somewhere.

Kris, it doesn't appear overly complicated, does it?

Jessica, I'm in your camp, share the same mindset. I just can't swallow that second glass of Kool-aid with the constant 24/7 blogging for business groupies.  

Norvell, Hey man it's great that you stopped by Mr. Hot Shot I'm Buying Huge Tracts of Land for Development.

Jennifer, Aptly put. What's a blogger have to do to get invited to this whole vow-swapping shin-dig coming up? No pressure.

Jackie, Personal connections in a people business. Whew, I'm in the first pew for that sermon, sister. ;)

I disagree.  I'm planning on doing 90% of my prospecting ON-LINE.  Why?  We've said it all before and I'll say it again - real estate is LOCAL.  In my area we are simply SATURATED with agents who have a giant rolodex that I can't HOPE to compete with.  It's not just saturated its super-saturated.  I have huge roots in this community, but it meant NOTHING even though I thought it would provide me with an excellent start.   I was stunned at how little it meant  - it meant absolutely nothing  - zero, zilch. Because  in the end it is a numbers game.  I was up against a well fortified army armed with a toothpick!  When you are in a situation where even the big guns are having trouble keeping control over their rolodex, you can't fight on level ground.  I don't believe in taking on battles I can't win. 

For those who don't know my area - a great deal of it has to do with MONEY and the connections the MONEY gives you. It's the country club crowd that has the contacts and I have neither the money nor the lifestyle to compete.  Ironically, its the housewives of executives who are networked at the Country Clubs that rake it in around here. I don't have $50k a year to do that.  

Sooo- the eggs have to be in one basket and if that doesn't work out alternative career plans are in motion.  Just the way it is around here.  I recognized long ago that competing on this level was a waste of time.  BUT- people are MOVING TO MY AREA in droves. Yet blogging to this group has yet to gain popularity.  If you look around Westchester - only a small handful of agents blog - and the percent that produce any kind of quality is very small.  The beauty is that this levels the playing field.  I don't have $100k to throw around every year - and my contacts aren't the best, but people moving here don't know that.  What they do know is I provide quality content. My blog is out there to specifically attract those who DON'T know their way around - and to make them feel at home.  I do the WORK the housewives won't in keeping that blog and my new "outside blog" together. I'll use that in order to build a following.  And I'm good at keeping in touch with former clients.    

The decision on how to prospect is one based on local conditions and situations.   

Andrew - I will never forget your post about Fat Sally - it was the first post of yours that I read.  It was very memorable.  As for the Rolodex, nothing beats good old-fashioned networking within your sphere of influence. 

I'm just here to marvel at your writing and experience a different kind of arse kicking than Jessica Horton dished out earlier this week!  I do better when I get out and meet people!  Best, Nat.

Not sure if I've ever made it to GO TO BOY status before, but CABANA BOY ... now that is a whole 'nother story.  Sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night with the smell of pineapple in one nostril and Banana Boat sunscreen in the other. 

Quit twisting my words, Lenza.  They never make any sense on your blog.

Andrew - So where do we find the sugar mommy/sugar daddy??????????? Seriously, good post!

Ruthmarie,

Yours is the quintessential comment. As a subscriber to your blog I echo all your sentiments: You publish intelligent, cogent local articles. You have a wonderful sense of detail. A sense of pedigree and excellence permeates every thing you submit to the Internet.

But the majority of that drove haven't attached the same level of value to your commitment. I dare say they may never. And I pray I am wrong, because you are one of the sharpest people in this 84,000 person forum.

That said you've also summarized the very nature of an inherent conflict: The established Country Club matron with Rolodex versus the Techno-grassroots Blogging Realtor.

I believe your superlative blog will upgrade your "toothpick" to a "spear" but it won't level the playing field for some time. So entrenched is the status quo in wealthy communities.

The old guard rarely changes in these income brackets. The "guard" is inherited by the sons and daughters of the very mothers and fathers rolodexing you.

Folks like to do business with folks who can do business with them. There's an almost incestuous bartering system in place. Since you're on the Outside, you need to work longer and harder to compete. You need to connect with people who want to move into your service area and remain on the Outside, which is a stark minority. The Country Club crowd still sells to this minority because a deal is a deal -- even if one doesn't fit in.

Now how many high schoolers don't want to be Prom Queen or the football star? I feel the same social forces are at work in these seven bedroom, six figure Wall Street North communities.

I know because I am "where" you are "now". I'm not completely on the outside (nor am I completely on the inside) in my own community which is very similar to Westchester.

Blogging may grab you a few deals but it will take a much longer time to smash the golden Rolodex. I hope we're both there at the end to see the "nerds" take the field.

Good luck.   

Jason, I've been tweaking the Return of Fat Sally. The challenge is to correlate his new occupation to real estate.  Hear you on the power of networking. Thousands of books are sold on the premise, a myriad of blogs, audio tapes, seminars, CD's. As a social species it is the Number #1 factor affecting success.

Some cliches are more than tinny phrases: Who you know regularly trumps what you know.

Natalie, I think it is our profession's natural forte. I've seen shy people try and sell real estate. That's a tough road, at the risk of generalizing. For me the computer often blurs between "tool" and "crutch."

Slay, Dude, even when you're on auto-pilot we just don't know which of the myriad of multiple personalities habitating in your body are at the stick. Keep flying by, though, and we'll keep scrambling those jets.

Barb, Finding that elusive Sugar Daddy is time-honored myth. Sort of like Bigfoot on grainy, hoaxed video. Your gut tells you he's not real but your heart, your precious heart, wants to believe in the Big, Hairy Guy.

Great post, work your butt off and sell yourself, after all, people buy people not a product.  If I don't like someone, I don't buy anything from them!

There's no substitute for personal contact and building a rapport with the public.  A website or blog may bring them in the door, but if you don't connect on a personal level, you're done!

Andrew, After reading all the comments above I forgot what I was trying to say!... Well, you can create quit a brainstorm with about everything you write. No doubt about that.

Ah! I remember now... Your quote:"If you're new to the business you can't compete with the golden Rolodex until you put your time in. Until you serve. Until you become someone else's "GO TO" boy or girl" JUST HIT ME... Boy do I need a Rabbi (or a Godfather... whatever!). After all I am only 3 years old baby.

I think I am gona cry!... LOL

Amie, I think that's how most people shop. They search for clues in the provider's personality. Will this be a fit? Can we work well together?

Eric, I agree that an Internet "presence" introduces our future clients to our actual presence. I'm very much irked when we associate human tendencies to machines.

Arina, Don't cry and don't feel forlorn. You write exceptional content. I've yet to read anything less than polished that you've authored here. You and Ruthmarie are quite similar in that you continually produce high quality information.

But being new is not an extreme disadvantage. Remember that those folks who truly earned their Golden Rolodexes started the same way. Not so sure about the cases of nepotism. I think Las Vegas (never been) is wide open enough for you to carve out a loyal following, whereas Ruthmarie and I must compete against the Old World/Old Guard "establishment circles" that tend to influence all aspects of a small, upper middle class area.

Is it easier? No, just different. It takes, in my opinion, a solid five years of selling real estate to generate enough traction so your efforts actually adopt a continual stream of referrals.

So if you've invested three years into the salt mines already, in two more you should be well on your way to daylight and your projected state of 'success.'

Besides, JC utters the phrase "Do not be afraid" 129 times in the New Testament I believe.