There is this popular saying: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
What did not work for you over the past few years?
Just because something did not work for you, does not mean it does not work... it may mean that you did apply it correctly or you did not try hard or long enough .... depending on what that "thing" is.
And just because something works for other people, does not necessarily mean it is going to work for you or in your niche.
My staff of virtual assistants work for many different agents all over the United States and Canada. They also work with entrepreneurs and companies in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.
When someone is going to start services, I have a call with the person to make sure we are on the same page. Then the person has an onboarding call with my COO to go over procedures and systems.
We see people making the same mistakes over and over again.
Here is a short list of the most common mistakes people are making:
1. Spending money on tools and bells and whistles they don't use and won't use or don't know how to use. Wasting money is a big thing and it seems to happen more now than before. It is hard to keep up with the speed of change. Brokers will hire me for one hour to go over their financials and typically I cut about 30% of their expenses right off the bat.
2. Looking for the shiny magic bullet like a Jeannie in a bottle... wishing for immediate leads and conversions to sales just because of the purchase of the next lead gen application.
Let's face it. There is no such thing as a magic bullet that will transform your business without a lot of work on your part.
Make a new years resolution: you will no longer even look for shiny objects. They don't exist.
3. Not blogging. Blogging is still the best way to get business from the internet. I started blogging in 2005 and joined ActiveRain in 2006. Blogging worked back then and it works now. If you are not blogging on ActiveRain, on your website blog and on other channels... you are leaving money on the table.
Blog, blog, and blog some more... it is not out of fashion, it still works. It drives traffic from people and google bots to your blog post pages.
4. Not NICHING down. Not drilling down deep. You must niche. If you are not niching now and in the future, you will not be found. Google expects experts in niches. Being a generalist puts you up as a competitor to Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin. You are NEVER going to beat them for general keyword terms buyers and sellers type into the Google search field.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel to get my video trainings to help you master your systems and blogging. Here is the link to the last free webinar I taught about what Google is looking for to decide rank. Link to video, click here.
5. Not knowing or understanding your customer avatar. The avatar is the term used today in marketing and branding agencies. Your avatar is the one person you are focused on talking to in your blog, videos, and other content. People fight me on this all the time. They are afraid they will miss out on a customer if they target a specific avatar. But that is NOT how this works. You are not going to lose people. Rather, you will gain raving fans.
Tell stories... share.... be interested in your customer and their customer journey. Speak to one person, use first and second person language online.
6. Still writing short form content. I have been harping on this mistake for years, telling people to write long form content. All the testing, all the data, points to the fact that Google loves long form content and so do people because Google bots are seeing how long people are staying on a site. Google rewards the websites which people are visiting.
There are 3 different kinds of posts you need to be writing. What determines the length is what your competitors are ranking for and what domain authority they have.
- Response Posts = 1,300 to 1,400 words in length
- Staple Posts = 2,200 to 2,400 words in length
- Pillar Posts = 3,000 to 5,000 words in length
Who you are up against in the top spots on page one for your keyword phrases is what determines how long your post will need to be in order to get it ranked.
You can learn more on blogging for 2020 in my YouTube recorded webinar here:
7. NOT delegating your tasks. You should not be doing tasks which are below what your average hourly rate is or needs to be.
Even if you are really good at doing a certain task does not mean you should be the one doing it.
For instance, if you like to create your own social media posts, this task is not the highest and best use of your time. What is the highest and best use of your time is networking on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Another strong action you can do daily is to participate in Facebook and LinkedIn groups. It is not creating the posts and your editorial calendar. It is conversations!
Make this the best year ever! Rock it all the way through this year!
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