I was talking to my assistant the other day, on the way to a meeting and she told me about her friend who is doing great.

This friend of hers came to our seminar on Marketing for Realtors and I liked her immediately. She took notes, followed up with me, and was just new to real estate. Privately, I thought it might be a real struggle for her to make it in this Miami market, now when she didn't have many connections, and was starting from square one.

So, I was surprised when Amanda told me that she had several closings this week. How is she doing it, I asked. Amanda answered that many of the buyers were referrals, and she was simply plugging away, and following up on every lead.

That is a great lesson for us all. Last Thursday night we had dinner with several people and one of them told me that she is an illustrator. Well, being in marketing, we are usually looking for good young talent...so I told her to email me some of her work. I asked her for her email address, but she had no card and no pen. Well, she didn't get back to me, and I was disappointed. And, she lost an opportunity.

So, maybe the magic of all of this business for Joanne is that she does meticulous follow-up with every prospect. Perhaps she's set up a database of her former clients and keeps in touch with them, and asks if they know people looking for homes. Maybe she drops notes to owners whose homes she'd like to list, and then calls them afterwards.

It is not rocket science. It works...always. Maybe we should take a lesson from Joanne.