Cliff Or Trampoline?

As new agents, our first year or two in the industry can be extremely challenging. However, we can chose one of two paths. We can let it drive us to jump off a cliff or we can jump on the trampoline and keep bouncing back. Agents, its your choice!

At times the decision can be a tough one. That is when you need to dig deep inside and ask yourself if your really giving your business your all. If not, are you willing to do what it takes to make the necessary changes.

Being in the real estate business, you know that most will jump off the cliff while still in the "rookie" stage of their business. In most cases, it was simply because of a lack of self- discipline.

Then you have those, that time after time chose to jump on a trampoline through thick and thin. I am a new agent, right at a year. I am also the type of person if I don't see results, I tend to go astray. However, I chose to jump on that trampoline and I mean jump a lot.I feel that while jumping it is important to use the safety  net.

When I think of the safety net, I think of it as keeping me focused, always there to catch me, and encourage me to keep moving ahead. For many our safety nets are friends, family, co-workers, and so it seems to be lately, our Active Rainers. Ok, so the safety net can help so much.

As "rookies", we spend a lot of time watching the "seasoned" professionals and trying to copy them. When what we really need to do is take bits and pieces of what we learn and develop our own style. Your style will "brand" your business. Branding is how people will remember you.

1. Create a Theme. Regardless of your market, you have to a color scheme, motto, something to set you a part. We decided to create our website, yard signs, open house signs, etc around the colors yellow and red. We chose these colors because they really stand out. They might be ugly, but its ok to be ugly as long as it's effective.

2. Decide On A Target Market. Unfortunately, we aren't super men or women, we cant be everywhere at once, I know, I wanted to tackle every aspect of real estate all at the same time! I went back and forth many times on what type of property I wanted to market, what price range, etc. I just so happened to fall into residential first. Once you decided on your target audience, take that and break it down into your "farming area". You can't spend tons of money and reach people just once. You need an area that you can consistently market to without breaking the bank.

3. Now its time to start putting together your marketing plan! This is where you need to once again dig deep and get creative. You want to find a niche. A niche that will set your marketing efforts apart from the others. Not only are you having to overcome a huge amount of competition, you're the "rookie". Of course, potential clients don't know that unless you tell them or act like one. On Active Rain, you will find MANY posts that have some very creative marketing tactics.

4. Be dedicated to your plan! I, for one, am extremely bad about if I am not getting immediate results, I want to change what I am doing. DON'T DO IT! You will read it over and over again, you have to be consistent with your efforts for them to pay off. This year I am going to become a pro at sticking to the plan. I can already see where some things are paying off.

5. Stay true to yourself, and never stop believing! Real Estate is not an easy business. It's a business that is hard and has a lot of negativism associated with it at times. But, it can also be one of the most enjoyable businesses you have ever been involved with, and not to mention profitable. To succeed, you have to stay strong, dedicated and always believe in yourself.

Yes, I know I am a "rookie", so why should any of the new agents follow my tips? Since joining active rain, my business has turned around. I can tell you that today, I am on top of my game. I am working like a dog. I work day, night, and weekends. There are even days when you can catch me working at 5am, not because I just got up, but because I haven't gone to bed yet. It is not because I am desperate, I am BUSY!

We scour the blogs for inspiration and guidance. Once again, we want to copy those that are successful. How do you think that they became successful? I haven't asked any of them, but I doubt it was overnight. I am also sure that at one point or another they were all considering jump off the cliff but, decided to bounce a little more on that trampoline. It took hard work, dedication and the self discipline to keep going when things became tough.

Take their words of wisdom, some of their ideas, mix them with your creativity and you will be well on your way to "branding" yourself. You don't have to do everything at once. Take one thing at a time, get it in place and add to it, taking the time to "tweak" things as you go. Just remember to be consistent no matter what kind of results you get in the beginning. You need to give your plan a year to really start paying off.

I realize that this is a contest, but I would like to issue a "rookie" challenge. Right after I post this, I am going to start a "Rookies Turning Pro" Group. I would like to have all the rookies join and work together to help one another make 2007 an incredible year. Of course, we would love to have the seasoned pros join in and help make our journey to success a little easier.