If you not seeing success as a real estate agent, it’s probably because you are not being consistent. Of all the tactics and strategies available to an agent, I think being consistent with your plan is one of the most critical. It’s easy to chase the “shiny objects” or jump from one strategy to another, especially if you don’t feel like one is working. If you are doing this, you are wasting a lot of time an energy. Here is a silver bullet that you can bank on: work hard consistently. Check out this episode to hear more about how you can develop the right plan, set that plan in motion, then rinse and repeat.
You have probably heard the old adage about the gold miners who were digging, but gave up before striking it rich, just a few feet from the gold. Had they dug a little deeper, they would have seen a payday. The moral of the story? Trust the process. If you have been selling real estate for a while, but not seeing the level of success you desire, it’s either because you are following a plan that doesn’t fit you well, you are not being consistent, or some combination of the two. If you are just starting out, you may need a little more time in the business, combined with a congruent plan. I would love to help you get there. If you have been at it awhile, you may need to focus on one thing, then maximize your efforts.
If you want to see success in one area consistently, you will have to repeat a process over and over again. This makes sense when we are talking about fitness or saving or positive habits...strangely enough, many real estate agents don’t follow this same approach when it comes to growing their business. Assuming that you have a great plan in place, the real power comes from your consistency. If you want to grow your business and develop long-lasting relationships with your sphere of influence, listening to this Onion Juice episode is a great place to start!
As I mentioned above, having the right plan is critical when considering the best approach to selling real estate. My team is focused on mastering open house events and sending out newsletters. I have been successful with this approach, but that may not be the plan you should follow. The truth is, everything can work if you work it.
When you first start selling real estate, chances are the effort will outweigh the results at first. You will spend a lot of time doing things that don’t seem to be working, which is where “trust the process” comes in. As you stay focused and avoid the shiny distractions, the results will soon outweigh the effort. It will be easier to attract leads, people will seek YOU out, instead of you chasing them, you will start to gain momentum...these are the rewarding moments that mean you are doing something right!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you have ever googled “how do I manage my time,” you probably know what time blocking is...if not, just imagine you break your day up into 1-hour blocks, then assign a task for each hour. Great strategy, right? Since this is the Onion Juice, and we do things differently here. I want to share with you a better way to manage your time and tasks. I have been using this system with great results! Listen to this episode to learn how day-blocking can help you maximize your workday productivity!
You have great intentions to organize your day into time blocks. If you can carve out the time to organize your daily schedule, you are further ahead in the game than most people. I used to organize my schedule in blocks, but I found it didn’t take long for unexpected meetings and conversations to cut into that time, throwing my whole day off. Ever been there? Of course! This is when I discovered day-blocking.
Scheduling every hour of every day was tough, and it didn't take long before that process seemed to be taxing and tedious. I didn’t always make good choices in this practice, and soon realized I was not alone in this process. So I changed it. Here is the new system I use every week: On Mondays, I call all of my hot leads. Tuesdays I call all of my clients to give them an update on where we are in the process, be that transaction details, listing details listing or any new listings on the MLS. On Wednesday, I contact my top 25. These are my referral partners or other people I am collaborating with. Thursdays are spent on the phone with my entire client list, organized by the alphabet. By the end of the year, every client has received at least two phone calls from me. On Fridays, I look over expired listings and the most recent posts on the MLS for my b-list clients.
This schedule works well, but you might be wondering how I manage all of the other projects, like this podcast, the I Love Madison Show, the other agents I work with in real estate and a social media presence.
Every Monday, I promote the latest episode of the onion juice, as well as the I love Madison show. This means that I am scheduling tweets and facebook posts and sharing the content. Mondays are also when I meet with my real estate team. Tuesdays are my newsletter day. I use service for life and have been incredibly happy with the results. On Wednesday, I record the I Love Madison Show. Thursday is used to record the Onion Juice podcast, before sending it off to the editing team. Friday is my video production or Youtube day.
The reason I can manage so many things at once is because I hire up and automate where I can. After recording the podcast episodes, I turn the audio over to Podcast Fast Track, where they prep the audio and write (these) show notes. Many of the social media posts can be automated and scheduled, which saves time. Eventually, I will hire someone to help me promote the podcast episodes as they publish each week. This is how I hire up! Your schedule and activities will look different, of course, but the principle is the same.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Whether you’re a new real estate agent or a pro who’s been in the game for years, it’s not uncommon to feel uncertain about how to structure your business, grow your lead database, build relationships, and, ultimately, maximize profits. One common solution to help with these concerns is to hire an experienced, reputable real estate coach - in other words, someone who has dealt with everything you’re going through today and can guide your career in the right direction. This is exactly what I do with Roundbox, the Real Estate coaching program I created to help launch new agents and revitalize agents who have been in the game for awhile but seemed to have lost momentum.
A freshly-licensed agent doesn’t have past numbers to look back on or to analyze what worked and what didn’t. They’re trying to increase production and set up their business, but don’t yet have a working business plan in place, or an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a real estate coach, I help new agents define and reach goals using a three-pillar approach. These pillars are 1. Your Sphere of Influence, 2. Chase Business and 3. Attract Business. The goal of these three pillars is to help you create a well-rounded plan that sets you up for strong growth and success!
Building your sphere of influence as a real estate agent is one of the most important things you can do. If done well, you can expect to see new business from about 10% of your sphere. There are several ways you can accomplish this. Personally, I use newsletters. Not the digital ones that people delete...I’m talking about sending the real paper to my list. Since few people are still doing this, there is not a lot of noise in this space and people are more likely to share an interesting newsletter than forward an email. The trick to developing your sphere of influence is to be consistent. Roundbox is designed to help you figure out what works best for your business, then help you develop a plan to help you influence your sphere.
The second pillar is chasing business. This is often the only pillar that agents focus on. After chasing business for a while, many agents get tired or burnt out and lose the motivation to continue. I believe there is a way to chase business that can be productive and profitable without the burnout. It’s possible, but it takes focus and tenacity to avoid all of the “shiny things” that can distract you. My team is focused on using newsletters and open-houses to increase business. There are hundreds of ways the chase can be accomplished, but what is right for you? Listen to this onion juice episode to hear more on how you can start the chase!
If you have listened to the Onion Juice before, you know that I often talk about being “media companies that happen to sell real estate.” This is how I attract business instead of always chasing it. In some of the recent episodes, I talk about a few ways that agents can attract business. My friend Caleb Jahr uses a vlog, I have used Facebook Live and Instagram, as well the recently launched I Love Madison Show, a podcast that highlights the city of Madison, Wisconsin. These are the things that work for me and my company. If you want to know more about how you can attract business as a real estate agent, I would encourage you to schedule a 15-min phone call with me, I would love to share ideas and hear your creativity!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
There is a powerful shift that takes place when you start living your life according to a vision, instead of just living to meet your needs! In the last episode, I talked about how to create a vivid vision for your life. This vision helps you to adopt an abundance mindset and focus on what truly matters. This week, we are going to peel back more of that onion and drink a little more on the subject of vision! If you haven’t listened to episode 124, you should go guzzle that first, it’s still fresh!
When you roll out of bed in the morning and start thinking about your day, do you focus on how you are going to pay bills, or how you are going to use that day to accomplish a grand vision that adds value to your life and to those around you? Truthfully, we all focus on those needs...there are more of them, and they tend to take up more brain space. What would happen though, if we started our day by clarifying what our vivid vision is, then used that vision to guide our schedule? I think your life would be changed...I know mine has been!
Having a vision has clarified what I need to focus on each day, and has lit a fire in my soul to see that vision realized. Every day, I get up excited to go to work, excited to continue selling real estate and leading my team. As I clarified my life vision, I shared that with my team, which in turn fired them up! If you are looking to build a team of people, for real estate or otherwise, the best thing you can do is clarify your vivid vision, then share it! As you lead, encourage the people around you to do the same.
Recently, I heard a radio commercial for a salon here in Madison that said they specialize in curly hair. As it happens, my daughter has extremely curly hair, so their commercial immediately caught my attention. Ok, but we are talking about real estate, why does curly hair matter? Because it’s a niche. There may be hundreds of other salons I could take my daughter to, but these guys say they specialize in the one that I am focused on. The same concept applies to your real estate business. When I started out as an agent, I focused on expired listings. I communicated that I could sell the houses that other real estate agents could not. Do you think that caught people’s attention? Absolutely. When you focus on a certain niche, it tends to expand. As it expands, you are positioned as an expert in that area, which makes people trust you and want to do business with you!
If you are a real estate agent that needs a niche, keep listening! There are hundreds of ways you can approach selling real estate. My team has decided to focus on open houses and being media companies that happen to sell real estate. I know other agents who focus on senior care or providing services for elderly people looking to sell a home, downsize, etc. Military families and law enforcement is another area of real estate that you could focus on. Understanding what military families are looking for means you can easily rule out properties that don’t fit, saving you time. There are hundreds of ways to approach this, I would love to hear some of the niches that you guys are focused on! Here’s to a vivid vision and expanding success!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)