business planning

A Quick Minute of Motivation

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In this new motivational series, Scott will highlight how to become a Peak Performer.

In today’s Peak Performer Series message, Scott talks about the importance of planning. Now is a great time to re-evaluate your success and think about creating a business plan for 2018. We are having two half day business planning sessions in December that we would like to invite you to.

Space is limited, you must RSVP to reserve your seat.

December 12th at our Lorton office from 12pm – 4pm. Lunch will be served, arrive by 11:30am to eat. Please RSVP to Bonnie at bonnie@gateway2realestate.com

​December 15th at our One Loudoun Office from 12pm – 7pm. Lunch will be served, arrive by 11:30am to eat. Please RSVP to Wendy at wendy@gateway2realestate.com

For more details, visit our events calendar at: http://www.gateway2realestate.com/our-training-calendar

Need more motivation? Give me a call at 703-652-5777 or email at scottmacdonald@remax.net

Now go sell something!

And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog at www.scottymacsblog.com​

The 5 P’s of Marketing and Real Estate

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At RE/MAX Gateway, we strive to add value to our agents so their businesses flourish and grow. We provide various professional development training classes, mentor programs and we make one-to-one coaching available with our highly experienced, top producing management team. In doing so, we help our agents meet or exceed their goals ever year! 5-ps-traditional-marketing

Here is an example of what we do to help agents with their marketing plans, to give them more focus and get better results.

The ‘marketing mix’ is a foundation concept in marketing that consists of the “5 P’s” – Product, Promotion, Price, Place and People.  This is how we relate these fundamentals to real estate marketing:

  1. Product
    1. In real estate, you are your product. What are you doing to improve?
    2. Your properties are another product. How are you gaining knowledge of available properties and areas?
  2. Promotion
    1. How you market yourself.
    2. How you market your properties.
    3. How you interpret the economy to your clients and the marketplace.
  3. Price
    1. What is the value that you bring to your clients and the marketplace?
    2. The fees to your clients, whether buyers or sellers.
    3. How you properly price your product (houses).
  4. Place
    1. Where you sell and market yourself.
    2. Where your business is primarily located.
  5. People
    1. The company you are affiliated with and what that means.
    2. The clientele you wish to serve.
    3. The person you strive to become.

We help our agents use these tangible and intangible “P’s” by incorporating them into their business plans, helping them become top producing agents with balanced lives. Several of our agents have received numerous awards from RE/MAX including the Hall of Fame Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award by incorporating this marketing and mindset into their businesses.

Want to learn more? Please feel free to call me to set up a confidential interview at 703-652-5777 or scottmacdonald@remax.net.

Business Planning for 2013: LEAP!

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I’m excited that you have taken the big step in your career by investing your time, energy and effort to take your business to the next level.

The important thing to realize is showing up is not enough.  You need to be engaged, focus and have a level of commitment to the plan your come up with this weekend.

In addition, you will need to change.

Change your approach to the business by adding accountability into your schedule.

Change the way you do business – perhaps developing a mobile strategy, online strategy, or including something else new.

Change how you view your business – become a visionary.  Think about what is coming down the road and how you will need adjust your approach to the business.

Most importantly, you will have to take action – not just talk about it.

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As time goes on, you will need to make adjustments.   Just like a pilot, a plane is off 99% of the time while in the air because of turbulence, air stream, storms, etc. you will need to adjust throughout the year as well.  How do you do this?  get a mentor or a coach.  We are hear to help.

You will need to take a leap of faith in your business and your plan.  Try different things – client parties, popbys, coffees, write notes and most importantly, you will need to do it consistently. Join networking groups – get out there and be present while you are with them.  The more things you try, the more likely you are to find something that works for you.  Do it, fix it, try it again.

In addition, consider the law of momentum.   Continually staying in motion will keep you moving towards your goals.  Do something – everyday to move you closer to your goals.  Embrace the self-discipline it will take to make it happen.

We have an agent Kay Woodard who has been getting up at 5:00AM and has been walking 5 miles.  She has been getting up in all types of weather and temperatures to walk regardless of the conditions.  She has done it whether she wants to or not.  This means, you have to do it whether you want to or not to build your self discipline.

If you are taking on a new initiative, take the time to educate yourself on what it will take to be successful in that area.  Meet with others who are successful in this area, read extensively about it, and then do it.

Also, analyze yourself – find out what is your “prime time” and get things done during this time – plan and prioritize around this time of day to get things done.  Top performers pay now so they can play later – low performers do what is fun and easy versus what is hard and necessary.  Commit to yourself today and everyday that you make the sacrifice and not play now and have to pay later.  Get up a little earlier – become the Ninja inside of you to write your gratitudes down, do your affirmations and write those personal notes.

Think and speak positively – be an optimistic force in your own life so you can be a positive force in the lives of others.  Optimism builds enthusiasm within you and gives you energy as well as gives you self esteem.

Lastly, be prepared – for your day, your appointments, your plan of action, and lastly your success so that you can build upon it,  daily.  Now, let’s begin!

 

Got a plan?

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As you start to think about business planning this year I put together a few thoughts for you to review before our session begins.  Imagine starting a business – which you all have done by becoming independent contractors  – with only a vague idea of what kind of product or service you would sell or provide to clients.  You meet with potential investors and you say, we may sell IPad skins in Europe or set up a mobile dog washing service in the Mid-West, and let’s just see what happens.  How would they respond?  Not very favorably is my thought, how about you?  You should never start a business without a clearly defined business plan, set of goals, a plan of action to accomplish the goals, and numbers for you to track to keep you on target to get you where you need to go.  This is our objective today.  Help you assemble the framework to get you down the right road to the success you desire.

As we work through today, think about the following questions:

  • What are your goals as a Realtor?   Is it money?  Is it the number of satisfied clients you want to have by the end of the year?  Is it starting a team to get you more balance in life?  Whatever the goals are yours but they must be written out, reviewed and then acted upon.
  • Do you have what it takes to reach the goals you have set for yourself?  Do you have the knowledge, expertise, sphere of influence, time and/or desire?  Think hard before you write them – just don’t write something down because it looks good or you think it could happen.  Be realistic.
  • How will your goals be achieved?  What is your plan of action?  How will your day be structured to achieve these goals?  Are you in the right frame of mind to make it happen?  Your attitude is extremely important in this endeavor.  As Zig Ziglar says, stinkin’ thinkin’ doesn’t work.
  • Are you willing to be held accountable to tracking your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)?  Will you participate in Jason’s monthly review classes?  Will you meet with me one on one to review your progress?
  • Are you willing to put together a Gap Analysis being honest about where you are today, where you want to be next year this same time and what it will take to get you there?  As you do this, don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to you and who you are. 
  • Are you willing to make adjustments to make your goals a reality?  As we all know, the market changes, financing changes, regulations change – will you adjust your original plan to adapt?  Be open to constructive criticism about your plan?  And, be open to change?
  • As you go through today, think strategically.  Stephen Covey says, you must begin with the end in mind.  Write down you goals, then work backwards to make it happen.  Think of the people, tasks, time, and the number of communications it will take to make your goal a reality.  Then put it on paper to solidify it in your mind.

Are you ready to be all you can be and stop making excuses?  Then let’s get started!

Now, if you aren’t ready, perhaps you should consider a different career or continue to do the same things you have always done and continue to get the same results.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

Are you ready for 2010?

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Well here we are, the first week of not only the New Year but the New Decade as well and if you haven’t already done so, now would be a great time to think about how you are going to be successful in 2000teens.  Obviously, in order to attain success, you must have a plan and decide for yourself the Status Quo is Unacceptable and get started on one today. 

One of the most important things to realize to set your plan of action in place and more importantly – in writing – for 2010 is to start!  It is essential to realize when you begin to think about your plan – make sure it is your plan and not someone else’s.  The goals are yours, timeframes to accomplish them are ones that you set, and if you do this you are more likely to accomplish them.  Your goals must be SMARTY goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, have a Timeframe for accomplishment and they must be Yours.  In addition, as you work through completing your task, it is good to share your ideas with others help them and to get the creative juices flowing for yourself.  In our experience, the more open you are to sharing, the more successful you will be. 

Once you have an idea, write it down so you remember thought because every thought is important, you will need to set your priorities and put the plan to achieve your goals and attain your objectives in real estate in motion.  Areas to think about may be increasing your database, finding new customers, getting educated, becoming an expert on pricing/trends/the market, etc.  Keep your mind open and determine where your focus will be this year.  Will it be first time buyers?  Move up buyers?  Short sales?  Foreclosures?  New home sales?  Property management?  Are there any other areas of interest or specialties where you can excel and make money this year in our industry?

Also, as you move through this exercise, here are some tips to keep in mind as we move forward.  Be decisive – be focused – put your thoughts in writing – develop a plan of action – share with others.  At some point soon, select an accountability partner to review your plan and theirs regularly.  It has been noted through research a group ASTD had accomplished, when you commit and plan to accomplish something in writing, you are 50% more likely to achieve it – if you commit to someone else 65% – if you have an accountability appointment with that person 95% and with a group 99%.  Think about it!

As you go through the year – stay engaged and become the go-to source for real estate for your sphere.  There will no doubt be adversity and as the times and the market change, be willing to make the adjustments necessary in your plan to insure your success.  Forge ahead – take action, massive action to achieve the success you desire and we will do it all over again next year!  Now, let get started.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Gateway’s Year in Review…now on to 2010!

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As the Leadership Team at Gateway reflects on the year that was 2009 and to see where we need to go to achieve our goals for 2010, we thought we would share our accomplishments and significant events that shaped 2009 for us as well as let you know what we want to accomplish in 2010.  We also want to share with you, RE/MAX’s Vision of 2010 and show you how we are aligned with their goals which is pretty exciting in my opinion!

RE/MAX Vision:

The number one goal is – Increase market share and associate production through recruiting, retention and franchise sales.  We have on our plate for 2010 to open at least one new office – Brambleton in July.  Additionally, we are looking to expand our operations to take advantage of the extended downturn in the real estate market and grow strategically through partnerships with area industry leaders.  Additionally, Gateway has increased agent count and productivity over the last year which is a testament to your hard work and efforts. 

The number 2 goal is – Overwhelm the competition with strategic Regional advertising to maximize Brand exposure.    We have seen the growth of Social Media and have embraced this form of marketing to communicate our vision to the public as well as our agents.  Additionally, our extensive email marketing campaign has been extremely successful through constant contact.  And lastly, our post card campaigns highlighting the affiliation of new agents has increased our market presence.  We believe our marketing efforts are second to none in the industry…we are always out there! 

The number 3 goal is – To aggressively pursue and complete the fold-in, merger or conversion of quality independent franchises into our existing RE/MAX brokerages.  As you know, our recent acquisition of Signature Real Estate in Culpeper may possibly lead to additional acquisitions in that region for Gateway.  Through contacts with Signature Real Estate, we have the inside track on the merger with 2 small boutique operations in Culpeper that we plan on diligently pursuing.  We are also looking at other opportunities and are happy to discuss any that you are aware of and want to be a part of going forward.

Under the Regional Office Priorities:

Recruit top 25% in each MLS.  Through the use of our subscription of Broker Metrix, we have determined who our target list of prospects is for our offices.  We have had strategic discussions with several agents in the areas near our offices and we are looking to enlist the support of our agents to help acquire these agents and others they are aware familiar with to affiliate with Gateway.  Our plans are to communicate with these agents through our “Get to Know Gateway” events, our Real Estate Exchanges, Social Media outreach and constant contact email campaigns detailing our educational programs, our competitive compensation schedule, RE/MAX initiatives and upcoming Gateway events.  By utilizing this continuous and persistent recruiting plan approach, we are confident we can capture the market share RE/MAX is hoping to attain.  Additionally, the benefit to you is that you get to work with the best and most respected agents in the business who want to help you succeed.

Facilitate networking and retention programs for existing agents.  Through the use of our emails, blog posts, our weekly Friday trainings, monthly Real Estate Exchanges (March of 2010 marks our 5 year anniversary of these events), quarterly meetings with nationally recognized speakers (Paul Muolo is slated for March’s meeting and Amy Crews Cutts, deputy Chief Economist for Freddie Mac is slated for June’s meeting, Stephen Fuller www.cra-gmu.org – his office’s 4th consecutive year – is on our September schedule and we are working on our year end meeting speaker.  This past year we had Doug Duncan, Stephen Fuller and Dave Stephens – under secretary of FHA) along with our awards party, agent appreciation events and annual Christmas party, we believe we have been able to retain our great agents such as yourselves as well as recruit several other top producing agents to our offices through this level of communication.  We want you to feel appreciated for being part of our team and we look forward to you continued participation at these and other events we host for you.

Partner with Broker/Owners to analyze and identify profitability models.  We have conducted thorough and extensive research of the market through an independent marketing firm – Verasolve – to determine the offerings of our competition and to place Gateway at the forefront of our marketplace in terms of education, trainings, and competitive compensation models that lead to profitability.  Through in depth discussions with Gateway’s leadership team, we have come up with a compensation/profitability/accountability plan that works for us as well as our recruits.  We have presented our model to our agents as well as our recruits and the model has allowed us to attract top talent from our competitors.  Also, by providing feedback opportunities to our agents, we have shown our transparency to our agents which has allowed us to maintain higher retention rates.  We are always open to receiving your thoughts on how we can serve you better as our valued agents.

And lastly, Award Franchises.  We couldn’t agree more – we are looking to grow, help us achieve this goal!

Under Brokerage Priorities:

Continue to reduce overhead/increase revenue streams.  As you know, we have closed the Great Falls office and we still have achieved a net gain of 14 agents this year at Gateway.  In addition, we have relocated our Gainesville office to a more visible location in our building with a better floor plan.  Additionally, we have incorporated training centers into both of our Chantilly and Gainesville locations.  We plan on doing the same in Brambleton as well as our future office locations.

Recruit the top 25% producers in your MLS.  Through the use of Broker Metrix, we have determined our ‘Hot List” of prospects that we want to join Gateway.  As such, we have just recently recruited several top producing agents which is great exposure for both Gateway and RE/MAX alike.

Optimize the use of the RE/MAX system in your office.  We have been incorporating the emails from the region into our regular communication with our agents and have utilized recent RE/MAX events such as Demand Success Today to educate our agents on RE/MAX offerings as well as a recruiting tool.  If you are unfamiliar with what RE/MAX has to offer, please attend our next New Agent Orientation to learn more.

Generate a high level of PR in your local community.  Through my recent election to the Board of Directors of NVAR, we have been introduced to Ann Gutkin, the head of Public Relations for our association.  She has connected us with several newspapers who request articles to be written for their respective papers.  Our quick responses to her requests as well as the newspapers have given our agents the ability to get published as experts in real estate.  In addition to this, we have established relationships with newspapers through our charitable contributions – most recently – Breakfast with Santa for our Toys for Tots campaign.  In conjunction with these efforts we get press releases published on a regular basis in business publications such as The Washington Business Journal.  Additionally, we are heavily involved with the Top 5 in Real Estate network and have achieved great PR success with RISMedia as a result of our affiliation.  In addition to this, we have a Director of Social Media which enables us to get maximum exposure, consistently out to the public as well as agents through Social Media outlets such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.  Lastly, our leadership team is also deeply involved in our local associations which results in great exposure to the real estate community.  Brett, Jason and Kate are involved committees.  Additionally, for 2010, Kate is the Chair of the Convention committee as well as Vice Chair of the Education committee – outstanding exposure for Gateway.   Help us, help you get more publicity for you and aid in growing you as an expert in real estate!

And Persistence…our continuous emails, communication and our business plan (which is attached)are evidence of this desire!

Franchise Growth Strategy:

Expansion Franchises:

Existing locations must be in full compliance.  Just so you know, in short, we pay and pay on time consistently and comply with all RE/MAX requests promptly.  We have exceeded our quotas in each of our locations and we attend RE/MAX events locally, nationally, and internationally on a continuous basis.

Under Final Details:

Recruiting Business Plans.   We will be happy to provide you with our recruiting plan of action we have in place if required.  Many aspects have already been discussed in this email as well as the business plan but we can provide you with the specific plan for your review if requested.  We are looking to grow and thrive in any market and would love your input on who can help us be the best.

Quota adjustments – none needed – we are compliant and far exceed the requirements outlined in our franchise agreements.

Business Continuity Planning – provided over a month ago per your request to be compliant with RE/MAX.

Statistics Reporting provided monthly through Lone Wolf with our monthly bill payment to remain compliant with RE/MAX.

Membership Profiles provided as agents affiliate with our office.  Each agent in MRIS and at DPOR with Gateway is also in the RE/MAX system to be compliant with RE/MAX.  Also, all agents are agents – not listed as licensed assistants to be compliant with RE/MAX rules and regulations.

Children’s Miracle Network was at our year end meeting and we have signed up in hopes of becoming a Miracle Office.  We are also extremely involved in other charities and can provide a specific list of continuous involvement with these charities upon your request.  Life with Cancer, Susan G. Komen, Toys for Tots, Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, and many others are on our list.

In addition to the items listed, we plan to embrace the New Events for 2010 proposed by RE/MAX and look forward to participating in these events.  Most notably, the Swing for Success, Broker/Owner Boot Camp, Broker/Owner Retreat 2010 (we have relationships with exceptional speakers that are reasonably priced if you need suggestions), New Agent Orientations (we have one for our agents if you would like to review or implement items from our presentation) and all the others listed in the email.

As you can tell, we are passionate about our franchise as well as the expansion of Gateway and believe that we have presented a compelling case for us to be noted as one of the best franchises in the RE/MAX organization.  Our commitment to our agents, Central Atlantic Region and the RE/MAX brand as a whole is evidenced by our desire to build the best franchise in the network.  We have put together a strong group of agents who are dedicated to each other’s success.  We will continue to grow, evolve as a franchise, and tackle the challenges of the real estate market head on!  We will not remain complacent – this is our commitment to you, our Gateway Agents. 

Below is a brief list of our accomplishments in 2009 and a look ahead into 2010!

Here were just a few of our Charitable contributions this year…

Golf tournament raised $6,400 for YouthQuest Foundation

We fielded a team for the 5th straight year and walked in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Nearly $2,000 was collected for Life with Cancer

273 toys were collected at our Breakfast with Santa for Toys for Tots – 5 years running!

 

New Path to Excellence Seminar Series started…

Leadership Seminar

Team Summit

2nd annual Successful Business Planning Retreat

 

Our Distinguished Speaker series blossomed…

Doug Duncan – Chief Economist for Fannie Mae

Steve Fuller, PHD  – Head of GMU Center for Regional Analysis

Dave Stevens – Under Secretary of FHA

America’s Home Rescue, Michael & Stacey Spickes

In addition to these events we experienced…

16 net new agents

Closed our Great Falls location in a cost savings measure…needed to tighten the belt in 2009

Moved Gainesville to more prominent location on first floor

Incorporated training rooms in all offices as trainings became better attended

Received approval for Brambleton office from RE/MAX – office due to open in July of 2010

Scott was elected to the NVAR Board of Directors

Hired a Director of Social Media

Incorporated Social Media in all aspects of the office: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for all offices

Group designations CDPE and CDRS both for short sales and both were excellent in their own ways!

 

As far as the calendar of events for 2010 – here you go!

February 11th Get to know Gateway – Logan’s Fair Lakes

March 12th Paul Muolo: Quarterly Company meeting (not confirmed)

March 19th Golf Tournament

April 21st Gateway Awards Night

May 12th Team Summit

June 5th Race for the Cure

June 16th Get to know Gateway – Gueseppi’s in Haymarket

June 18th Quarterly meeting with Amy Crews Cutts

July 17th Company Picnic – Scott’s court

August 4th Leadership Seminar

September 17th Quarterly Meeting

September 22nd Get to know Gateway – TBD Brambleton

October date TBD Flu Clinic

October 22-24th Business Planning Retreat – potentially Kingsmill Resort

November Food Bank Collection due date November 19th

December 3rd Year End Meeting

December 4th Breakfast with Santa for Toys for Tots

December 9th Gateway Christmas Party

As well as all of our other regularly scheduled trainings and Real Estate Exchanges – keep an eye open for your monthly calendar!  You are guaranteed to experience more at RE/MAX Gateway!

Now, go sell something!

 

Business Planning Retreat

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A great time was had by all! 
Our weekend at the Hyatt in Cambridge, MD started off with golf and spa
treatments.  The course offered beautiful
views, challenging holes, and plenty of opportunities to talk trash!  The spa offered hot stone massages, Swedish
massages, facials, and sauna/steam showers. 
It was an appropriate way to get everyone in the right frame of mind to
take their business to the next level. 

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The theme of this year’s business planning was Around the
World.  We started off in our RE/MAX Hot
Air Balloons in Middleburg, VA where we visualized our trip (our
businesses).  We had to determine our
course of action for our trip going forward by first reviewing where we had
come from in 2009.  We analyzed what our
key performance indicators are for 2010 and how we will measure success.  Additionally, we set short term and long
range goals to set our course for success.

Our next stop was a crash landing in Greenland where we were
kidnapped and had to participate in a dog sled race to get our balloon
back.  In Greenland, we had to determine
how to problem solve our way out of the mess we were in (short sales,
unprofessional agents, foreclosures, etc), think strategically on how we were
going to get ourselves out of these situations and continue to set our course
for success by reviewing our “why” of being in business.

Luckily, we were able to get our balloon back and get back
in the air to look at our business from a higher altitude!  But, guess what?  We got blown off course and crashed landed in
a boat in Luxor, Egypt where we had to navigate the Nile 350 miles to get our
balloon repaired.  We were on our way to
accomplishing this by looking for new opportunities available to us and how to
build upon them and grow them and ask ourselves if we have currently taken
advantage of them in today’s market when we were arrested!  We had to analyze our negotiating skills and
how to improve upon them based upon challenges we faced as well as realize we
need to have contingency plans in place to handle each situation we encounter
in our market.  As we handled these
challenges, we were able to move on!

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Believing we were going to sail smoothly home – we once
again experienced a challenge – another crash as our balloon got a tear from
high altitudes and we landed on the Great Wall of China.  While in China, we had to improve our
communication skills – listening, being the first order of business in
developing better communication skills. 
Then we moved on to looking at non verbal communication, tonality and
other forms of communication others use to communicate.  We considered the options available to
redefine our business and reinvent ourselves in the process.  As markets change so must we.  Our balloon is repaired and we are back in
flight and on our way to success again!

I think you know what happens, we have an emergency
landing.  This time in Pago Pago!  It is an extremely poor island where it was
time to reflect on what is important to us – our value system.  We reviewed what is important to us today and
what values are going to carry us to where we want to be in the future.  Self analysis is a strategy to help us grow
both personally and professionally!  This
also incorporated accepting change in ourselves, our business, and why this is a
critical piece to success in any endeavor we undertake.

On the last leg of our trip home, we realized at our high
altitude that flying high isn’t the only key to success.  We must have the right attitude to get us
there.  It is important to manage our thoughts
and actions to develop the right habits to lead us to a successful career! 

Finally, we were home with a our travel log that included
short term goals, long term goals and an action plan to get us to success.  We set a meeting to discuss our trip and
review our progress in 90 days.  Our
travel logs were shared and we are going to hold others accountable to their
success in our next meeting! 

We discussed the importance of getting away, putting things
in writing, and being held accountable to our objectives we can attain much
greater success.  We hope that you will
join us on our next journey because by failing to plan, you are planning to
fail.  Get it?  Got it? 
Good!

Now, go sell something!

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It’s time to invest!

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What was the first thought that came into your mind?  Was it about the stock market?  Or was it about buying investment properties?   Perhaps you thought it was getting others to invest in the previous two areas of opportunities.  Now, what do you believe this statement is about?  What does invest mean?  Dictionary.com says it means :

1.

To put (money) to use, by purchase or expenditure, in something offering potential profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

 

2.

To use (money), as in accumulating something: to invest large sums in books or education.

 

3.

To use, give, or devote (time, talent, etc.), as for a purpose or to achieve something: He invested a lot of time in growing himself personally and professionally.

 Well, taking this into account, my intention was that it is time to invest in yourself and your business.  The top companies in the world invest in their people – you should invest in you as well!  If companies do it, why don’t you?

The real estate market, the economy and your business are not out of the woods yet.  Yes, some aspects of the economy are stabilizing but we have a long way to go – foreclosure numbers, default rates, and unemployment rates (although reported to have slowed) continue to rise.  Therefore, now is the time to invest in your business.  It has become obvious to me that during times like these, many agents get too involved “in” their business when in fact, if they want their business to soar to the next level, they should get involved working “on” their business – today.  It is time to reflect on what is working and what isn’t – where are trends in our area heading – who are key players in the industry and what are they doing – more importantly, what are you doing?  Are you attending training?  If not, why not.  If you are involved in foreclosures, are you going to conferences out of town to meet new people, strategize and get new accounts?  If not, why not?  If you are doing short sales, are you meeting with experts who are experiencing success in the business locally and nationally to learn more about trends and what they are doing to be successful?  If not, why not?  Are you taking advantage of the free educational opportunities your association is making available to you?  If not, why not?  Are you taking advantage of one on one opportunities with your broker, fellow agents or a coaching program to help get through the market we are in and are going to encounter?  Again, if not, why not?

These examples could go on for some time.  It is my belief that you need to get out of your house, get out from behind your desk and educate yourself or else you will be left behind – doing what you’ve always done and get the results you’ve always gotten will not propel you to success.  Times change, programs change, economies fluctuate and you need to as well if you want to succeed now and in the future. 

It is important not to confuse activity with accomplishment.  Determine what you want to accomplish and what you need to do to achieve what you set out to do.  If you get willowed in the mire of day to day activities, put blinders on to what is happening around you,  get out and network with others, and ask yourself how can you accomplish “big” things in your life.  It is my opinion you need to invest in you today.  Attend trainings, get coaching, attend business planning (it’s not too late), get a designation, attend mastermind sessions, go to real estate information exchanges.  Take the time to get educated – NOW!  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now go sell something!