Success tips

How I Double My Success – in Real Estate and in Real Life

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About 1.5 years ago I made a decision to get in better shape so I could live a more independent life as I aged and would not become immobile relying on others to help me do daily tasks.  Scott MacDonald How I doubled my success 1JUL2015During this time, as I start each day at the gym, I listen to or watch motivational videos and it makes you reflect upon your own beliefs and how you should live your life.

My belief is I need to live with the following elements in mind:

  1. Live with passion – if you don’t love it, don’t do it
  2. Have a purpose – know what is your why
  3. Be relational – build strong relationships, don’t burn bridges
  4. Be charitable – give to those less fortunate than yourself
  5. Have gratitude – be grateful for the people, experiences and the belongings in your life
  6. Have reflection – remember where you came from, learn from experiences, and don’t forget but don’t live in the past
  7. Goal oriented – you have to have goals
  8. Inspirational – be a leader, inspire others to do more
  9. Fairness/kindness – you can’t get further faster by being a jerk
  10. Lead by example – don’t get outworked by anyone, try harder, do you best

With these components in your life, you will be a success in any endeavor.  These beliefs have taken me to a new adventure, as a team of us from RE/MAX Gateway are going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Now, go sell something

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

Real Estate Success: How To Excel In 2015

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You either rise to the challenge or you don’t.

HIGH PERFORMANCE success tips from Basketball to Business

Which will you do – rise and excel?

Will you do nothing or the same things you have always done and get what you have always received or get even less?

What will you become if you do act?

You need to make the decision to accept the challenge of achieving your goals. 

You have set them for yourself.  Act accordingly to make them happen.  Put the action items in your calendar, plan each day the night before, have a to do list of high priority activities in place to accomplish your goals and do them.  Get a routine in place and make it a habit.  If you want time, you need to make it – you won’t find it.  Your calendar is gateway to success.

Too often I hear excuses of why something cannot be done.  Stop with the excuses and start making things happen.  It is a choice.  It is easy to do nothing it is hard to make a change, accept the challenge and become better.  You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.

The critical thing you need to realize is you have to start.  Whatever you need to do to take the first step to success and achievement.  Put down the fork, go to the gym, make the call, go to the networking event, hold the open house, blog, do videos, visit with your past clients, just do the activity.  Whatever the goal you want to attain needs to start with “a first step”.  What is your first step?  Why?  What happens if you don’t take it?  More importantly, what happens if you do?  Life is full of choices – make the right ones to get you moving in a positive direction and get you out of your rut.

Important things to remember are to not overestimate the competition and do not underestimate yourself.  You are better than you think.  By doing the activities required for success, you will develop the skills, mental toughness and ability to forge ahead when things get difficult.  By taking action you gain confidence in your abilities, you stretch outside your comfort zone and you learn. 

Will you make mistakes?  Yes. 

Will it be difficult at times?  Yes.

Will it kill you? NO. 

So stop wasting time and move forward and grow from what you have learned.  Go out and make your own luck.

You have set your goals – do what it takes to make them happen.  You wouldn’t have written them out if you didn’t expect them to happen.  Life is changing rapidly, daily and you need to adjust to become better and make your dreams come true.  It is so important to increase your level of commitment so you can overcome the frustrations you have had with your previous results.  Doing nothing to change to improve yourself is actually regressing.  Regression is not an option.  Take the appropriate action required.  Now is the time.  Procrastination is over and 2015 is the time to start to make something more of yourself.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

 

How To THRIVE IN 2-0-1-5

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Happy New Year Gateway Agents,

Now that the holiday season has come and gone, it is time to get geared up for 2015 and make it your best year ever.  In order to achieve all you desire, you will have to make sacrifices, develop more willpower, practice more discipline, have more consistency and continue to grow personally and professionally.THRIVE IN 2015

The sacrifices you will have to make will come in various areas. 

One is time.  Time with family and friends will be limited.  As you will be busier than you have been before, are you ready to make this sacrifice and are they?

Another area is investing in yourself and your business.  Do you have the money and resources available to you and are you willing to allocate them appropriately this year to realize the success you are planning for in 2015.  Lastly, committing yourself to working more efficiently, effectively and focused is a huge sacrifice – are you ready to make the sacrifice for your success?

Developing willpower – the ability to say no to unproductive, time-wasting activities is huge.  You will have to say no to coffees, lunches, happy hours, and ball games with family and friends to keep you focused and on point.  Do you have what it takes to develop this necessary ingredient to high levels of achievement?  Get willpower do to the hard things and get successful.

Practicing and working on discipline is critical to getting the results you want for yourself.  Getting up earlier, staying at the office a little later, developing a morning routine that gets you on track the rest of the day, sticking with a structured schedule – daily – and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone are the pieces of the puzzle that will get you further, faster.  Be disciplined in your activities, work smarter not harder and achieve great things in 2015.

Accomplishing tasks, making things happen and doing them regularly, with consistency is a key ingredient to success.  The important thing to keep in mind here is to not let a few disappointments slow you down.  Consistently set a schedule – with top priorities the night before you leave the office, consistently call your database, consistently attend networking events, consistently grow your database, consistently review and adjust what your plan is according to how the market fluctuates.

Growing personally and professionally is another success factor.  Start an exercise program, eat healthier, drink less alcohol and sodas, stop smoking, and take time to think.  Grow professionally by attending trainings, get involved in mastermind groups, obtain a designation, get a mentor or coach and meet with an “expert” in the business to get their perspective on what is happening and what they are doing to be successful.

Here are a few more tips to consider – stay positive, stay focused, talk to yourself and stop listening to yourself, read more and watch less TV, stop complaining, hang around people more successful than you, volunteer your time, learn something new every day and take action.

Don’t just survive, it’s time to thrive in 2-0-1-5!  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

Get out of your comfort zone!

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As you grow and develop it is necessary to experience discomfort. You will need to break out of your comfort zone and create a new comfort zone that will help you expand yourself and your business. In some cases in can be referred to as expanding your box – get out of your box and experience exponential success. Let’s review how this can be broken down into manageable steps:

D – Decide that you need to do more than you are doing to get you more results than you are receiving today. Being satisfied with your results today won’t advance your future. At the same time, getting fewer results than you desire is going to put you further behind. Decide to do more today.

I – Implement the strategies required to make you attain the success you need to grow. It could be building more relationships, making more calls, attending more events, or whatever it takes to get you in front of more people. Relationships are the key to success. Build relationships deeper, make new ones and make them count for you and them!

S – Strategdiscomfort blog picize the what, how and benefits of what your actions will do for you and others. It will be necessary to adapt to the changing environment and make yourself relevant. Technology is rapidly changing all aspects of our lives and you need to make sure your strategy is in alignment with these changes.

C – Create the vision to make it happen. Write down what is necessary for your success, visualize your success in these undertakings and the results it will bring you and others – and they will happen.

O – Ownership of the ideas, thoughts and necessary tasks to get you to where you want to go will enable you to achieve your success. If you don’t buy into the end result, you won’t leave your comfort zone and make it happen.

M – Mastery of stretching yourself beyond your comfort zone through repetition, role playing and rehearsal will make you more comfortable in doing what is necessary to take yourself to the next level. Become a master of what steps you need to take to make it take place for you.

F – Find people who will help push you out of your comfort zone and want to see you become successful. Having others hold you accountable, help you grow and have your best interest at heart is vital to your growth.

O – Opportunities will become available to you as you make yourself expand and grow outside your comfort zone. You will be able to direct your future and take advantage of these opportunities. Luck is preparation meeting opportunity – be ready by experiencing discomfort.

R – Reward yourself for your new found comfort zone. If you don’t take the time to pat yourself on the back with small, medium or large rewards for your efforts, you won’t continue to put forth the effort. Rewarding yourself is a critical piece to keeping you motivated to do more.

T – Track and measure your results so you know how far away or how close you are to your goals and what you need to do to expand yourself to make these dreams a reality. What can be measured can be improved. Tracking what needs to be done for your success is imperative to receive results.

Discomfort allows you to grow and become better in the end and it is necessary for your success in all areas of your life. As the saying goes, if you aren’t growing, you are dying. Step up your efforts, step up your activities, grow outside your comfort zone – with baby steps or by leaps and bounds – and get where you want to go faster and perhaps even further than you expected. Get it? Got it? Good!

Now, go sell something!

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

7 Tips How To Turn Your Passion Into Success

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What is your driving force?  What is your true passion?PASSION

In the search for a meaningful and fulfilling life, it is extremely important to determine what you are passionate about. Too many people go through the motions of life without purpose because they are not pursuing their passion.

Here are my thoughts on passion.

Prioritize what is important to you.

Assess yourself and see if you have the ability to do what you are passionate about.

Skills will be necessary, so develop them continuously.  The better you are at what you love, the more passionate you will be about it.

Seek the people and the knowledge you will need to get better.  Always learn more from those who have been there and read voraciously to be the expert on your passion.  A mentor will get you where you want to go more quickly with fewer hiccups.

Initiate – as Nike says, just do it.  Take action to pursue your passion.  If you delay, you will only be hurting yourself, your success and your happiness.

Optimism, positivity and productivity in your life will ensue when you follow your dreams.  The choice you have every day to be positive or negative is easier to make when you are taking action on your passion.

Never give up – never, ever give up.  There will be obstacles in any endeavor but remember to keep your eye on your prize, you will make great things happen.

If you are looking to improve your life, do more of what you desire, improve by enhancing your skills and learn from others that know what you want to become.  Take action sooner rather than later.

Now, go sell something!

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

The Accidental Entrepreneur: It Takes More

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kristinia bouweiri

Kristina Bouweiri, President & CEO Reston Limousine kbouweiri@restonlimo.com

The Entrepreneur Business to Business forum at NVAR yesterday featured an accidental entrepreneur, Kristina Bouweiri.  She calls herself this because she never thought or had the desire to become a business owner.  She was a 100% commission based sales person selling advertising when she was offered a position at Reston Limousine.  It was there she learned what it was like to operate a business.  She did booking, invoicing, hiring, you name it – she did it all plus was a mother of four.

There were several events that helped shape her business to where it is today.  One is when she was approached to provide a shuttle service for the National Geological Survey which got her company into the government and getting government contracts and the other was 9/11.  When 9/11 occurred her business ground to a halt and she had to get out behind the desk and out on to the street to make things happen.  She got involved in Chambers, Charities and multiple Boards which all helped her gain clients and not only survive but thrive.

Her philosophy of how to run a successful business mirrors running a real estate business whether you are a broker or an agent.

Here are a few things owners and agents need to consider:

  • Get out and get involved – network with other professionals in the business but also outside the business to help create opportunities for each other.
  • Continually grow your database and maintain regular contact with them through email, phone calls and visits.
  • Get into a mastermind group of others in the business from around the country to share ideas on all aspects of the business and to help you develop best practices.
  • Join a peer advisory group like Vistage to help you grow your business as well as hold you accountable.
  • Attend conventions, seminars and be a continuous learner. Be knowledgeable about your business.
  • Develop strategic relationships to grow your business.
  • Learn to delegate. Take an hourly calendar and track what you are doing each hour for two weeks.  See what your hourly rate of pay is and any tasks you are doing that don’t pay your hourly rate, hire someone to do it.
  • Don’t spread yourself too thin
  • Hire to your weakness and develop your strengths.
  • Always look to hire the top talent and weed out the under performers.
  • Be relational not transactional – make great and long lasting relationships and help others to succeed.
    • Hold client appreciation events and solicit sponsors to help fund the events.
    • Figure out what you are good at delivering and make that your niche.
    • Be tech savvy and be an early adopter
    • Embrace social media – have a blog, website, LinkedIn, Facebook and email blast strategies to gain awareness, provide valuable content and to be seen.
    • Get involved in charities

    As you can see, she was a wealth of knowledge to the numerous agents in attendance and it was great information that parallels our industry.  To learn more, feel free to reach out to me.

    Now, go sell something!

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

Hyper-local Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Has Sellers and Realtors Nervous

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Watch Scott’s Market Minute on YouTube:   Hyper-local Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Has Sellers and Realtors Nervous

 

Inventory of houses for sale in Northern Virginia increased again this week.  A hyper-local real estate market can be a challenge for buyers, sellers, and their REALTOR.

Watch and listen as Scott MacDonald of RE/MAX Gateway offers the insight and explains strategies necessary for success in the Northern Virginia real estate market.

If you would like to discuss your specific real estate market, options or challenges, give Scott MacDonald of RE/MAX Gateway a call (703) 652-5777

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

Video

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market UPDATE! What You Need To Know To Sell Your Home

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House inventory has dramatically increased in Northern Virginia. Buyers have more options. Real Estate Agents & Sellers alike… You need to watch this video blog for tips and tricks to help sell the home. Want to talk about your property in specific? Call Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777 or email scottmacdonald@remax.net read more… https://scottymacsblog.com/

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

Video

7 Ideas For A Successful Real Estate Open House

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The Spring real estate market is already warming up and due to low housing inventory, an Open House can be an effective way to get your listing seen. Listen as Scott offers some great ideas that were shared in “The NEW Agent” training series on how to help ensure a successful real estate open house.

Scott MacDonald, Broker/Owner/President of RE/MAX Gateway mentors and offers practical advice to real estate agents. Want to learn more? Contact Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777 scottmacdonald@remax.net to learn more about how to be your best as an entrepreneur in the real estate world. Read more at scottymacsblog.com

Video

How Productive Real Estate Agents Make The Most of Winter Storm Janus

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Real Estate is more than just showing houses. Learn how to take advantage of inclement weather, snow days, and how to build your relationships and business as winter storm “Janus” pushes her way through the Midwest and up the east coast.
Scott MacDonald, Broker/Owner/President of RE/MAX Gateway mentors and offers practical advice to real estate agents. Want to learn more? Contact Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777 scottmacdonald@remax.net to learn more about how to be your best as an entrepreneur in the real estate world. Read more at https://scottymacsblog.com/