Losers or Winners - You Decide!
Well that's an easy choice, isn't it! At first of course we all start out thinking it's going to be a winner but it turns out to be a loser. Holy smokes I've had a lot of 'loser' ideas over the 30 years in the business. But I'm smart enough to know when to dump what doesn't work and move on - that is a winner move. I've also had some fantastic 'winner' ideas and I've stuck with them like glue for a LOT of years because they work well for me.
My Losers that bit the dust....
Chose Wisely. Way back in my first year in the biz (87) somebody said - pick a neighborhood you did some business in and send out a mailing every month. So I did. But low and behold there were a couple of crazies in that hood that decided to tear up my mailings, write a nasty note and mail it back to me. Well that was scary because I had no idea who was doing this and I didn't want to find out. They didn't know me, they just didn't like mailings I guess. I dumped that neighborhood and went on to other more profitable mailing areas.
Shiny Objects Syndrome. For probably the first five or so years in the biz I went to a lot of success seminars (which was a good idea) but I ended up buying all kinds of marketing programs that just never went anywhere. The speakers got rich but their products didn't help my bottom line. I quit buying all the shiny objects! Now, I give a lot of thought about any new shiny objects consider whether or not it fits into our current lineup of offerings. Most do not.
Name Dropper. I started my own company in 2006. At the time I was very well branded with Anna Banana and our market was brisk. So we thought, let's name the company Anna Banana Realty. Well, that was very well received by our SOI and the public in general. It was a great door opener. And then, the market fell flat and I mean flat. Half the homes were under water, many folks had lost their jobs and either forced to file bankruptcy and let their home go back to the bank or attempt to short sale. Nobody was in a good mood in fact many folks were depressed. We knew at that point we needed to change the company name as folks just weren't receptive to an upbeat company name. So we chose Phoenix Property Shoppe and the more conservative change was the right move at the time.
Enough of the losers......let's move on to the good stuff!
My Tried and True Winners!
Anna Banana. Way back in the early 2000's a coach of mine asked me what my nickname was. Anna Banana. Great, he says, that is what I want you to use on all your marketing. HA - like that will ever happen I said. He said - just try it for 3 months, you hired me for a reason, right? Well that was probably some of the best advice I have ever gotten! Within months I was making a lot more sales and people were responding to me so much easier (and smiling) and - I was having fun again! I have used it to brand myself ever since. Trust me there is nobody out there that doesn't remember my name! There have been a few times I wanted to dump it (in the down market) but I came to my senses with the help of a few business associates.
Relationship Based Business. In 1995 I signed up for a 4 day seminar that taught systems and relationship building. I thought I had died and gone to heaven because I discovered that there were other people that thought like me about relationships - but they had way better ideas on how to do things consistently and with full on purpose. I have followed this system ever since! Our business is built on relationships and many of our clients have been with us since the very early days. We see them as family and friends. We take great care in helping them like we would our own family members. It makes me smile just thinking of all the wonderful people that are in our lives - and good friends as well.
The Future is Calling!
Today is the first day of rolling out our new website Phoenix Property Shoppe! We are very excited about the new look and the back end is rocking it big time! We hired a developer to build it as there was no way either Gary or myself had the knowledge to do so. The total cost for this project is about $2000 and there is a monthly fee as well. We still have a ways to go on the blog and some custom pages but that's all in the works and it will fall in place nicely. We'll see where this year goes with our new site - and I'm holding the vision it's going to be great!
Losers or Winners - You Decide!
Comments(15)