“Fortunes are made outside of the 9-5″

I talk a lot about balance.  Balance at work, balance at home.  Keeping boundaries and having strict standards.  Mainly because I work with the super producers who are in risk of losing what they love most because of their insane lifestyles.  As much as I think balance is good and healthy – the reality is that our life is a life of seasons.  In order to become a super-producer and be on the top of the heap, you must be willing to do what others won’t.  Becoming out of balance for a season is necessity to achieving the extra-ordinary. 

The secret becomes including those you care most about in the process so they feel a part of what you are doing.  Recognize when to be “on” and when it’s time to snuggle in by the fire and some warm cookies with those you love.  Remember, life is more of a marathon than the 50 meter race. 

Carpe diem,

Every once and a while I get something that is just too good not to share. Dean is a fellow Master’s Program Graduate and is the CEO of one of the finest Ad agencies I’ve ever been exposed to. I received this article last week from him and thought it dovetailed into the branding series I wrapped up this last week. I hope you enjoy Dean as much as I do -

If direct mail is considered the most targeted form of advertising, then why do so many people experience miserable failure?

Most buy a list, merge it with their own, (sometimes), create a mail piece, and blast it off to a list. Next, they wait for the phone to ring and when it doesn’t ring, they blame direct mail for the failure. I wish I had a dollar for every business I visited that said “We tried direct mail…it didn’t work.” Truth be told, it wasn’t the fault of direct mail.

Let’s just say a few or more of the 10 keys of direct mail success never made it into the loop. The 40/40/20 rule is a broad stroke look at what makes direct mail work: 40% of the success is due to the quality of the list you’re sending to; 40% is due to the strength of your offer; and 20% is due to the graphics and printing of the mail package.

More specifically, let’s go to the 10 keys.

1. First, before you mail, make sure you have an accurate, updated prospect database, and, depending on the offer, also send to your existing clients. How and where you buy your list is critical to the success of any project. Unfortunately, most lists purchased are obsolete by the time they hit your desk. If the list isn’t current, use a title slug such as Marketing Director, President or HR Manager on your labels instead of a person’s name to get to your prospects. However, contact names are always more effective. If you’re planning to send a valuable package out to a list, spend the time to call and confirm detailed contact information. You’ll need it for follow up anyway.

2. Make sure you send a mailer that clearly presents a strong offer of real value. For example, the words FREE, COMPLIMENTARY, 2 FOR 1 or 20% OFF are gold in the direct mail arena. It’s proven that these words are mental magnets to your mail recipient. If, in the chaos of running your business, you haven’t thought of anything great to offer, create an offer of real value before you mail. Don’t try to be cute with hyper-creative copy and esoteric graphics either. They don’t call it direct mail for nothing – be direct.

3. They say color increases readership by 41%, but great copy and a well-designed piece creates readership. Color isn’t everything, but it helps and is recommended.

4. Make it easy for the recipient to respond to your offer. For example, include an “800″ number or a prepaid envelope or reply card, especially if you want more information from the prospect. This will enable you to track where the leads are coming from and measure the effectiveness of the campaign.

5. Make sure everyone in your company knows about the mailer before it goes out. You’d be surprised how many people will call an advertiser, and the employee who picks up the phone is clueless or untrained on how to field the call.

6. Use an odd shaped or oversized mail package. It stands out from the mountain of mail we receive and is always worth the extra money.

7. Test different mail packages to the same database to determine which brings a higher rate of response.

8. Never do a mass mailing without a small test mailing, and always check postal regulations for your mail campaign to see if it meets standards and is optimized for postal discount and delivery efficiency. Trust me on this one.

9. Always follow up on every mail piece with a phone call, if possible. Sales conversion rates can multiply by 10 with good telemarketing and lead qualification follow-up.

10. Don’t mail just once. To determine mailing effectiveness, mail at least three times to the same list.

11. Why eleven if it’s “The 10 keys?‘ A good marketer always goes beyond what is expected and gives something of extra value to their audience. Lastly, whatever the cost, always measure the effectiveness of every marketing effort. A good marketer always measures and does more of what works and less of what doesn’t. It’s that simple.

Carpe diem,

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“Some people change jobs, mates, and friends, but never think of changing themselves.”

Sometimes the only common denominator in a series of failures is us.  We as a society tend to point fingers and blame others instead of taking responsibility, the irony is that responsibility is the first step to the growth needed to overcome and turn failure into success.  Looking in the mirror and changing ourselves is one of the most difficult things we must do.  It takes courage to admit we are a contributing factor to the difficulties we face in our lives.  If we don’t, we will experience the same cycle (only quicker this next time) again and again. 

Carpe diem,

The shift from your current ROI (Return on Investment) is to simply expect more of everything and everyone, and raising your benchmark, including for yourself. This is also called raising your standards, extending your boundaries and having the edge. Without these attributes in business you will struggle continuously.

Here are some key points to remember:

1. Expect 10:1 return on development time spent.
2. There are zillions of places you could spend your time/money/energy. Have some way of selecting only things that will give you at least a 10:1 return on time.
3. Rather than just getting set up with projects, ideas, profit centers etc…first project how much they will pay off in sustainable revenue and profit over the next 10 years Be conservative.
4. Projects are those goals, activities and seeds that are distinct from your current revenue stream. In order to afford projects, your business engine will need to be operating well.
5. Don’t use projects, no matter how potentially lucrative, to escape from current needs of your biz. Integrity first, cash flow second, profit third, Project One fourth, Project Two fifth, and so on.
6. Eventually much of your time can be spent with projects, which is great.

Carpe diem,

Attitude is one of the most fundamental keys to success in the real estate world.   It will outperform longer hours, higher IQ’s and superior credentials.  It is free and simple to develop and maximize for almost unlimited return in revenue and commissions.  Although it is simple, it is not necessarily easy for some and I want to highlight 7 of the killers of a great attitude.

Indifference – The “I don’t care” or “whatever” attitude pushes back and disengages from the world and its problems.   It doesn’t contribute to solutions or progress.  Remember, “The only thing needed for evil to rule the world is for good men to do nothing.”

Indecision – Some folks just have a challenge making a decision and in doing so they by default get to follow the decisions of others.  Try making more decisions faster, when you go to lunch decide on something quickly, when you go shopping get something and reclaim the rest of the day, work on the small decisions and grow in comfort until the big ones become less, well, big.

Doubt – Without hope life becomes a miserable mess.  Ask yourself if doubt is helpful or just holding you back.   I’m all for being honest, but far too much doubt masquerades as “realistic.”

Worry – If you want to protect your attitude, you must get worry and stress out of your life.  Focus on what you can do something about and do something about it.  If it’s out of your hands, don’t worry or stress, because it isn’t going to help anyway. 

Over Caution – Fear is the basis and root of much of what is wrong in the world in your life.

Pessimism - Even pessimists don’t like hanging around other pessimists.

Complaining – Don’t complain.  You can be honest with your feelings and your thoughts, but don’t just whine.  I ask that every complaint or problem that is brought to me have at least one suggested solution that accompanies it.   Don’t focus on the problems (and there are always thousands of them to think about), focus on the solutions and making the world a better place, even if it is in a small way.

Carpe diem,

Either you’re into simplification or automation or you’re not. If you want to be into extreme profitability you’ll need to get into simplification and automation. And invest in it, too.

 Here are some key points to keep in mind:

1. Simplify and streamline by automating everything.
2. Doing things manually or inefficiently is a symptom of having no technology reserve.
3. There are systems and services to automate virtually everything.
   • Mail merge programs.
   • Quicken for accounting.
   • Checkfree for bill paying.
   • Birthday reminder service.
   • The web.
   • Email.
4. Auto responder for emailed info.
5. Automated work-reporting systems.
6. Once you start with these systems you’ll need to continue to invest in them. It’s usually worth it — just make it an investment and budget for it.
7. Remember, you do need the extra time that simplification offers.

Carpe diem,

Any real estate professional can tell you the three most important factors in determining the value of real estate are location, location, and location.

Any successful real estate professional will tell you the three most important factors in determining the success of a real estate professional are relationships, relationships, and relationships.

The lessons I’ve learned have given me an edge in business.  Each has served me well.

Lesson 1: Here’s one that I have mixed feelings about, but, at then end of the day, I tend to support “pictures.”  Pictures help establish a relationship. In our very visually oriented culture, people respond first to pictures, and then to words, so the more you show the less you have to tell and sell.  Just make sure that your picture is a real reflection of you, that it is warm, approachable and emotionally oriented.  Ask youself “how does this picture make me feel?”

I have used UPDATED photos of myself in my advertising; my picture is on my business cards, and pictures of happy families in their new homes along with their letters of thanks in my ‘book’ of client successes.

These days we put all those photos on their web sites.  Show photos of your work, your satisfied clients, and yourself on your web site.  This helps prospects see the results you offer, and begins the relationship even before you actually meet. Which brings me to the next lesson?

Lesson 2: The relationship starts before you even meet your prospects, so make sure it’s a good beginning. 

In a perfect world, all prospects would come to us through referrals and SOI (Sphere-of-Influence), so they would already have some trust and confidence in us, but that’s not always possible.

Your relationship with your prospects (your future clients) starts the moment they become aware of you.  That means your web site, your ads, and even your reputation will often precede you, giving your prospects some idea of what to expect (or not) from you.  So if you make promises you can’t keep in your advertising, or your web site if full of errors and outdated information, you could be starting that relationship on shaky ground.

Lesson 3: Treat everyone who shows up as a prospect – even those who are “just looking” or looking on behalf of someone else. 

Since it can be difficult to determine exactly who is a prospect sometimes, it is important to treat every inquiry with the respect and courtesy you would offer your best clients.  Just because someone is not a prospect today doesn’t mean he won’t be tomorrow. 

Although she may be “just looking,” she could be looking for someone who is ready to buy, and relies on her recommendations for the short list of possibilities.

Carpe diem,

One may think that the top 10 worst mistakes of personal or contact note writing are so obvious as to need no comment, but each of these gaffes has been committed by well-meaning people in my circle of acquaintance in the past 18 months.

At least two of the mistakes listed below were so jaw-dropping rude that at first I thought they must have been jokes, but to my disappointment I found that they were simply errors in judgment. 

If would be so nice if good intentions would compensate for any deficiencies in execution, but sadly, that is not the case when writing personal notes. The truth is that you get no points for trying when you offend the recipient of your personal note by committing any one (or more) of the following mistakes:

1. You write the note in front of the recipient, and then present it with a proud flourish. OK, proud flourish or not, writing your note in front of the recipient is just plain rude. While you are standing in front of a person, the proper form of communication is verbal (unless you need to sign), and one only writes notes to someone in one’s immediate vicinity when one is in class (and even that is not a very polite thing to do). The whole point of writing the personal note is to deliver your message in a memorable and gracious manner that implies thought (which dashing off a perfunctory note in the recipient’s presence does not!) and consideration.
2. You deliver the note by hand. Unless accompanied by a gift, a hand-delivered note says that either you are too cheap to spring for the price of a stamp, or that it was more bother than it was worth to dig up the recipient’s address. Either message no doubt contradicts whatever nice words you wrote in your note, so what’s the point of that? Buy the stamp!
3. You criticize the recipient as a way to point out the need for your service or product. Right now I imagine you’re probably gasping with shock and disbelief, but I swear this happened just a few months ago! After speaking at an association meeting, I received a note from a (presumably well-meaning) member of the group thanking me for sharing my valuable marketing tips, and suggesting that she could help me improve my presentation skills so that they would be as good as my content. Ouch! I may not be the most accomplished speaker on the planet, but even so, the personal note is not the appropriate place to point out one’s shortcomings. 
4. You use cards with preprinted fill-in-the-blank messages. How would you feel if you received a card that was preprinted except for the blanks for key information? Dear [blank]. Thank you for the [blank]. I know I will find it useful in the future. Sincerely, [blank]. Don’t laugh! Someone evidently thought this format was perfect for every situation from thanking a guest host to acknowledging a referral, but there is really nothing right about this format, so I beg you not to use it.
5. You use cards with preprinted generic messages. Acceptable for weddings, major holidays and birthdays, but not for business contact notes. If your handwriting is truly so terrible that writing a legible personal note is impossible, you may use your printer to print your message, but each note must be written so as to leave no doubt that you composed the message especially for the recipient.
6. You use a personal note as a sales pitch. A sales letter is printed on letterhead, and a personal note (which is meant to develop or maintain a relationship) is hand-written on card stock. A smart person doesn’t confuse the two.
7.  You send the exact same card with the exact same message to the same person more than once. This is a double whammy! Not only do you lose credit for the first note, you’re penalized double points for the second note, effectively putting you in negative-points-ville. Why? Because the ill will a duplicated note generates is greater than no note at all. But don’t let this keep you from writing notes; just be sure that you have a good tracking system in place, and you’ll be golden.
8. You send the note via email. Thoughtful? Sweet? Charming? Yes, yes, and yes, but email just isn’t the same, in the same way a verbal message isn’t the same. A hand-written note carries significantly more impact than either an electronic or verbal message. Want impact? Hand-write the note.
9. You sign only your first name, and choose not to insert a business card. This is not a real problem if the recipient knows you well enough to associate your first name with your handwriting, but if the recipient is not in your immediate family or one of your very closest friends, by all means include your business card. If you are going to all the trouble to write a note, why not be absolutely sure the recipient knows the note is from you (and not from one of the other people who share your first name)?
10. You send cards inconsistent with your message or image. I know I’m going out on a limb here by making a sweeping generalization but as a rule it is not a good idea to send messages of a serious nature (such as condolence or initial meeting acknowledgment) in a whimsical card. Neither is it a good idea to use a whimsical card (say, Scooby Doo) as your personal notes when you are trying to present a serious business image.  And, REALTORS® commit THIS crime all the time.

Keep in mind that the best way to avoid offending the recipient of your personal note is to use the medium effectively. Because as with any relationship tool, an offensive note is far more damaging than no note at all.

Carpe diem,

Successful REALTOR® entrepreneurs know that the key to success is creating a reputation that attracts business to you. It’s no longer enough to be an expert with a good network; to really expand your sales, people have to hear about you before you hear about them.  There’s an old sales adage that says people do business with people they know, like and trust.  You can introduce yourself and begin to build trust before you ever meet your prospective clients by using some or all of these tactics:

1. Create an “annotated” signature line, which is a detailed, informative signature that is appended to all your email correspondence.  Include your title, all contact information, and company tag line.  Also consider including a call to action statement, quote, or testimonial. (Don’t forget that your ‘Sound Bite’ might be convertible into a great tagline!)
2. Put up a web site.  Personalize it by writing the copy in first person, using a photo of yourself, and by describing the type of clients that you serve, or products you sell.  Register your site with search engines, as well as industry directories.  Add reciprocal links to your site to drive traffic.
3. Write articles for your web site and blog and/or submit them to business and industry publications.
4. Send out a newsletter (or contribute to someone else’s).  Include information of real value, as well as your contact information.
5. Host a seminar or workshop on your area of expertise (investments, 1031-Exchange, etc.).  Consider creating an email course, available through your web site using an auto-responder.
6. Speak on your topic of expertise at industry events or association meetings.
7. Get involved in the leadership team of your industry or networking association, or volunteer to work on community projects that interest you.  (Try to be involved outside your industry whenever possible.  You won’t get the business by meeting other REALTORS!)
8. Set up a Group 100.  (100 professionals in your professional network to whom you refer business, and who will refer business to you.)
9. Send press releases to a targeted list of industry and local media about your speaking engagements, new accounts landed, or other milestones.
10. Nominate yourself (and/or others) for awards. 

Bonus:  Add a good, emotional, approachable photo of yourself to your business card, your web site, your marketing materials.

Carpe diem,

Navigationally. Know where you are and where other things in your immediate vicinity are. If you do not know that there is a chair in front of you, you may stub your toe. Obvious, yes, but so true.

Chronologically. Timing is everything. Be aware of the order in which things are happening, how time is passing, what you should be doing next, and how much time you have in which to do it. This avoids unnecessary, last minute panic, the embarrassment of being late, and the annoyance of being far too early. Instead, be in the right place at the right time.

Historically. The history of your community, your country, and the world relates to and affects what is happening to you and how you think right now.

Geographically. Those living in tropical countries do not live in the same manner as those living in Scandinavia. Living in a valley is very different from living on a hill. Be aware of and be flexible about geographical variances – they can dictate whether we exist comfortably or fail to survive.

Experientially. Being aware of your prior influences allows you to look for ways in which your past may be affecting your present choices. Remember, you are creating your past right NOW!

Physically. It may sound bizarre to consider not being fully aware of your own body, but it happens. Pregnant women, for instance, will often misjudge their size as they bend down to reach for something. We all experience changes to which we have not yet adapted in our minds. Don’t you sometimes like to picture yourself as you used to be (maybe 5 or 10 years ago)?

Directionally. Some people get lost when they head for their own mailbox. Others can be on a road that they have never seen before, but still head directly toward their destination. They may not know the road, but they know the direction in which they need to travel.

Hierarchically. You may disapprove of hierarchies, but the reality is that we live in them. Most of us have partners or bosses – people for whom we must make decisions and for whom and to whom we are responsible. Being aware of our position keeps us from behaving in a way that may be inappropriate.

Genetically. No, our genes do not have to be our destiny, but they do affect us. A genetic tendency in one direction or another may be either helpful or hindering. Allow for your genetic tendencies, and, if necessary, try to compensate for or protect yourself against them.

Carpe diem,