Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Badly

This is a little self examination and humble confession.  

I have been farming a particular neighborhood for years.  Well .... sort of for years - sometimes more - sometimes less.   I was known as the Queen of that neighborhood but then I had some unexpected financial changes about five years ago and I needed to cut back on where I was spending my money.  I cut back on farming.  Looking back, I know how stupid that was.  I even knew it was stupid as I was doing it but it was hard to internalize that a couple of thousand dollars - if that - in mailings would return tens of thousands in commissions and keep spending the money on farming that I needed immediately.  

As naturally as night follows day.... I lost my status as the queen of the neighborhood.  I still did rentals and had my hand in a few things but the status was definitely lady in waiting rather than queen.  So... last year I started farming again and sure enough.... two listings over $700k each.  Of course, things were looking up as they do with consistent farming.  I had a lead on a few other listings that were several months off.  

Then I switched companies.  My admin stayed behind at my old company.  I got busy with the move, the spring market, a sick dog, a sick child.  I was trying to write my own monthly mailer and I just got too busy.   The mailing company had mailers I could use but I didn't like them.  I didn't have the time to write my articles but I wasn't willing to use the mailing company's versions.  which meant that I stopped farming.... again.....

Then I read a book about procrastination.  One reason people procrastinate is because they are trying to achieve perfection. Then the author said something brilliant - He said that anything worth doing is worth doing badly.  That really struck home.  

Of course he wasn't suggesting that we should all go out and just deliberately do a miserable job.  I do think he was saying that if something is important -then don't put it off just because you can't get it done perfectly.  If it is important to do, then do it.    i realized that this quote really applied to me and farming.  I had this idea of perfection that I was trying to achieve and since I was too busy to achieve it.... I wasn't farming at all. I was too busy to write my own monthly mailer so I had quit farming.  How stupid.  

Isn't it more important to send something - almost anything - out on a bi-weekly basis if you are going to farm rather than waiting  to find the time to write the perfect piece - and then not farming at all? 

Happy ending to the story.  I sent out a mailing about a week ago and today the phone call came.  The Come List Me Call! I went over to meet with the seller at 9:30 and by 4:30 she had called to say she wanted me to sell her home.  By 7 we had signed the paperwork for me to sell her home at $725,000.

Here is my take away.  Owners in a geographic farm don't expect the great American novel.  That's a good thing! However, they are in need of being reminded that we are out there waiting for their come list me call or their referrals.  We have to remind them consistently that we are out there waiting for the opportunity to help them or their friends with all their real estate needs.  

People have a lot of realtors to choose from - and if we aren't constantly reminding them we are here - they will forget us.  

So going forward - it is twice a month mailings for me to my farm. One will be the monthly newsletter with market stats and the other will be either a success story or a just listed card.  It doesn't matter because we know that our mailings are going from the mailbox to the trash can. Success comes from lots of trips from the mailbox to the trashcan so that our name begins to stick with them.  Success doesn't really come from how great our newsletter is or our postcard design.  It is how sticky our name becomes on the way from the mailbox to the trashcan.