Just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean you should do the same. Does that sound like a parent-child comment? Well, it kind of is, but that's not my intention this time. About 15 years ago, I raced mountain bikes on an amateur team. It was a blast. We did 24 hour relay races. So, that meant that for about 36 hours, you didn't get any sleep or rest, but the adrenaline that you were operating under was like a Red Bull drip.
One of the problems we ran into from time to time was rain. Rain can make cycling a real challenge. Mountain bike tires are designed with deep treads that bite into the dirt really well, unless the dirt becomes mud. Once those knobby tires are full of mud, they can add a good 10-20 lbs, or more, to your ride, and those tires also become slicks which give you no traction on any path.
Because of the mud issue, I decided to ride on slicks. The tires weren't slick like a like a balding rock star. They were knurled in the middle and had tread down the sidewalls. On a mountain bike course, you're often riding at sharp angle to the ground. The sidewall treads evacuated the mud very quickly and the knurled center didn't accept any mud, but it did offer a little bite. People thought I was crazy, but my 16 lb bike stayed 16 lbs throughout the races, and my teammate's bikes gained weight like a bored teenager.
The point is this, in any business, your success will depend on what works for you under changing circumstances. As a real estate agent, I'm not a door knocker, or a cold caller or a lot of other things. I love the Internet, and the Internet has become my marketing partner. I've invested my energy on designing and maintaining a web-presence that funnels clients to me over and over.
In the early days, I received a lot of advice from other agents who followed traditional paths. It didn't take long to realize, if I was going to be successful in this business, I had to find my own path. I had to determine what would work for me. Though many colleagues had tried and true systems that were working for them, I knew I could never do them. They were mud on my tires. I would find myself exhausted and frustrated if I used their methods.
In this business, you've got to take a realistic look in the mirror. What is most compatible with your personality? I will never do some forms of marketing, but I will follow paths that I can excel in. If you're shy, knocking on doors may not be for you. Something else will likely work better with your personality.
What form of marketing will work for you? Don't worry if it's not what everyone else is doing. Some people thought I was nuts for using slicks in mud. At least that's what they thought until they had to carry that extra mud across a mountain at 3:00 am in the morning. I made a choice that seemed bizarre at the time, but it didn't take long for others to see the value in it.
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