Archive for March, 2009

Can Your Business Survive without P.D.?

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Okay, Dan, what in the world does that title mean?

The question is: Can your business survive without personal development?

Too many real estate agents think they can put the cart before the horse and have success in real estate without building their self-esteem, their skills and their attitude.

Do you want to earn $500,000 a year in real estate?

Well, you can’t go from earning $50,000 right to making $500,000.  Different income levels take different skill sets.  You have to take it step by step.

If you want to grow your income, you must grow your personal development first.

What books have you read lately?  When’s the last time you read a book?  I’m not judging you here.   It’s just a question you need to answer for yourself.

Here are some good books to start with:

Think and Grow Rich by Dale Carnegie

The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller

The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield

Real Estate Rainmaker by Dan Gooder Richard

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

5 Major Pieces To The Life Puzzle by Jom Rohn

There are literally hundreds of books, CDs and DVDs that you can read, listen to and watch to improve yourself and your skills.  How much time each day are you willing to devote to improve your personal development?

To become a better real estate agent, you must become better at prospecting…better at delegating…better at organizing…better at keeping a positive attitude….and on and on.

You must become a master of the mundane.  Design your business model…simplify your systems…and take action by doing them over and over and over.  Tweak them when necessary, but have the discipline it takes to do your daily income-producing activities day after day.

Don’t overwhelm yourself in the beginning.  It’s more important to have a solid foundation of activities that you can do every work day and then build other activities into your day as your skills increase.

Don’t complete your daily activities 4 days one week, then 2 days the next week and 3 days the next week.  You must build a daily plan of action that you can consistently complete Monday through Friday of every week.

How did Michael Jordan become the best NBA player ever? He mastered the skills….you never saw the countless hours each day that he was on the practice court.  You only saw the end results of his mundane practicing over and over and over.

The same goes with Tiger Woods…his peak level of performance is only achieved by his desire to be the best and work harder and smarter than anyone else on the PGA Tour.  Haven’t we come to  expect him to win every time he enters a golf tournament?

Every journey starts with a single step.  You may well be on your way to your level of success or today may be your very first day to start over fresh.  It’s never too late to start achieving your goals!

Posted in Success Mindset | 4 Comments »

Your Class Bell Is Ringing - Back To School!

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

With all of the changes happening in the real estate and mortgage industries, it’s important to keep up with everything that’s going on.  There are new skills to be learned, like short sale strategies and dealing with lender-owned foreclosures.

The skill sets of the last few years need to be tweaked and improved upon for you to stay in the game.  What worked in 2005 won’t for the most part work in today’s market.  I’ve talked with agents, who have over 30 years experience and even they’ve not seen a market like this.

You need to continue learning how to improve your business and keep your sales and negotiating acumen in top-notch condition.

Are you listening to CDs, DVDs, mp3s, training webinars, and reading books on a daily basis?

You need to schedule time each day for education.  Just apply the strategies.  It will make a difference in your business.

So take half an hour to an hour or so a day, where it’s quiet and study various strategies and marketing ideas and test them to see if they work.  This time is as important as a client appointment. 

Just a brief glimpse into my life:  I’m a voracious reader.  I’m also a night owl, so it’s not uncommon for me to read books or listen to CDs, DVDs or old training tapes in my home office up until 1:00am or 2:00am long after everyone else in my family is fast asleep.

The selection of which target markets you focus on, i.e. your client base, REO business, FSBOs, etc., are not as important as the conscious and proactive approach to completing and achieving your daily and weekly game plan.

I strongly believe in never-ending, self-improvement.  In today’s market, in order to survive, you need to stay focused on self-education and self-motivation.

 

 

Posted in Real Estate Training | 1 Comment »