You have a philosophy of how you run your business and life. You may have never articulated it clearly, but it is there – influencing every decision that you make. In today’s real estate market and in the climate of change, maybe it’s time to revisit a few things. Consider the following bullet points as you take a deeper look at why you do what you do.

· Take risks. Don’t play it safe. The world is changed by those who dare greatly.
· Make mistakes. Don’t try to avoid them.
· Take initiative. Don’t wait for instructions.
· Spend energy on solutions, not on emotions.
· Shoot for total quality. Don’t shave standards.
· Question everything. Welcome change. Disaster is usually the first step in the creative process.
· Focus on opportunities, not problems.
· Experiment.
· Take personal responsibility for fixing things. Don’t blame others for what you don’t like.
· Try easier, not harder. If success was based solely on hard work the janitor would be president.
· Stay calm!
· Smile!
· Have fun!

Carpe diem,

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Most people are far more effective working with people they enjoy, trust and with whom they have a real interdevelopmental relationship. Interdevelopmental means that both parties are growing together, instead of being interdependent, which means that both parties rely and lean on each other. While I’m pretty effective and self-motivated (thanks to my vision), I find that being with like-minded people (my colleagues, friends, and others) pulls me forward naturally, and I like that! I used to try hard and I did it all myself. While this worked pretty well, it was a bit lonely, and I didn’t grow as well or as quickly, personally or professionally. Let a team pull you forward instead of trying to “make it happen” alone.

Carpe diem,

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“Do you have integrity?” I was asked this at Richard Robbins conference a few years ago. As I looked around the room, 99% of the people in attendance had their hands raised. Richard then asked if you had ever made a commitment to yourself – to eat better, be organized or get to the gym. Then he asked if we had ever not lived up to that? Have we ever made a choice to lie to ourselves and break a commitment? All the hands went down. He made the point that if we couldn’t have integrity with ourselves, how could we extend that in our dealings with others?

I recommend the book – Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality by Henry Cloud. It is a great book that outlines the importance and elements of integrity. Among the highlights and points of the book, he included what he thought were the essential elements of integrity -

· The ability to connect authentically – which leads to trust

· The ability to be oriented toward the truth - which leads to finding and operating in reality

· The ability to work in a way that gets results and finishes well – which leads to reaching goals, profits, or the mission

· The ability to embrace, engage, and deal with the negative – which leads to ending problems, resolving them, or transforming them

· The ability to be oriented toward growth – which leads to increase

· The ability to be transcendent – which leads to enlargement of the bigger picture and oneself

Carpe diem,

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When I see a high performance agent or team hit the skids or slide sideways in business, it is almost always a problem on the personal level.  One of the reoccurring issues is a tap root of bitterness that is held.  In order to break free and get back on track we need to pause the business coaching and start working through the issue. 

One of the fundamental truths we start with is to come to see how staying unresolved with someone or something in your past hurts you far more than it hurts anyone else.  My grandfather, an old preacher, used to have a saying that he would use from time to time in his sermons – “Bitterness is a poison that destroys the vessel in which it’s stored far more effectively than on the person on which it is intended to be poured.”

When we can see that it is hurting us far more than the other person it enables us to face the very real benefit of forgiveness and letting it go.  Those unresolved issues are an anchor that chains us to our past hurts, disappointments and wounds.  While the anchor holds, we have no hope of sailing on to our dreams.  The former always restricts the latter. 

When we are held up and haunted by the hurts of the past, learn to see them as the cancer they are and learn to forgive and let go. 

It’s in your benefit to do so.

Carpe diem,

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As real estate marketing professionals, one of the most common misconceptions that we run across in our business is that marketing is nothing more than advertising, and that advertising is the only way to get your name in the paper.

The good news is that marketing isn’t (just) advertising.  Oh, sure, advertising can be a tactic used in some marketing plans, but it certainly isn’t necessary or even cost effective for many small businesses. And the better news is that you can get your business name in the paper without spending a dime on advertising.  We call that cost-effective marketing tactic “public relations.”

What exactly do we mean by public relations? 

Some define it as media relations (working with the media to place stories). Some define it as public speaking. Some define it as article writing.  In reality, it’s all those things and more.  For the sake of simplicity, if you own a small business, you may only have the budget to do one or two of the things that can be defined as public relations.

For example, if you’re launching a new business, or introducing a new product or service, consider working with a public relations expert who can help you draft a news announcement and “pitch” it to the media who are most interested in what you do. The PR expert should have writing skills as well as the ability to make a story appealing to the media, plus the tenacity to follow up and make sure your story is heard.

So how is it different from advertising?

Advertising is purchasing space in a particular medium (newspaper, magazine, radio or television, for example) to present a prepared message about your product or service.  That’s called “paid media.”

PR (Public Relations) is when information about you and/or your real estate business is presented as content (information) in a particular medium.  Usually this takes the form of a story written about you by a staff writer, or an article you write for a magazine or newspaper.  We call that “earned media.”  And for many businesses, earned media is far more cost effective than paid media.

One advantage of earned media is that articles present free information of interest to the reader, as opposed to your ad, which is implying trying to sell something. People use the media to be entertained or informed, not to be sold, which is why people can remember the articles they read, but often can’t recall which ads were in the magazine they just read.

Right about now you might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, this sounds great.  But will earned media make the phone ring like a newspaper ad?” 

That depends on your business.  If your business is the kind that people only need in an emergency (like a tow truck or an appliance repair service), or on a very infrequent basis (like a caterer or a wedding photographer), then advertising might serve you well as one of your key marketing tactics. 

If your business doesn’t fall into those categories, then public relations might make the phone ring far more often than advertising.  (Of course, even if your business does fall into those two categories, a solid public relations campaign can still help boost your sales!)  How?  Keep in mind that while a newspaper ad is recycled at the end of the day, an article placed in the media has three lives: before it appears, the day it appears and after it appears.

Even though many people may read your article, if you expect it to create a response by its mere appearance without any pre- or post-follow-up, you may be disappointed. Some readers may be inspired to visit your web site or contact you directly, but that is by no means the only way to assess the value.  You need to help leverage the power of the story by telling your clients, prospects and colleagues about the upcoming article before it is printed, and then send them a copy of the article with a personal note after it appears.  The article will also be a great addition to your marketing materials; prospects will be impressed when you prove your business’s stature in the community with the story.

Of course, no public relations professional can guarantee that the story will make the phone ring. But a story or article can introduce  you to many prospective clients, educate  readers about your real estate services, drive traffic to your web site, and provide the credibility only a story or article published by a third party can create.  It’s the third party credibility that all forms of advertising lack, and the distinct advantage of public relations as a marketing tactic.

Carpe diem,

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I was pursuing one of my personal journals from a few years back this morning, looking for some point of inspiration to share.  As I looked through the pages, I came across Arnold Beckman’s Rules for Living that he had hung in his office.  I think they are just as applicable today, and for our business, as they were in his time and industry. 

Arnold Beckman’s Rules for Living

1. Have absolute integrity in everything.
2. There is no satisfactory substitute for excellence.
3. Have moderation in everything, including moderation.
4. Hire the best people, and then get out of the way.
5. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, if you are not making mistakes, you are probably not doing very much.
6. Acquire knowledge and always ask “why.”
7. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Carpe diem,

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Being successful in business is less about having all the answers yourself than knowing where you can access expertise. Since you can’t know everyone, you often rely on your friends or trusted colleagues for referrals, which is where your professional network comes in handy.

After all, a basic truth of business is that people do business with people they know, like and trust.  Happily, this model works both ways. The more people who know you or about you, the more business will come your way.

Creating an extensive professional network is not nearly as time-consuming or intimidating as you might think, but it does take conscious effort.

Carpe diem,

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• Hand-write your message. And yes, penmanship does count!

• Use a wide-tip pen to fill the whole page with just a few lines.

• Always date and time it in the top right corner.

• Make the message clear and sincere. It need not be stiff or formal, but it does need to be appropriate.

• Use colorful, whimsical and creative cards if they reflect your business and/or professional personality.

• Always use a stamp. It looks more personal, and less like stuffy business correspondence.

• Send notes for all kinds of reasons: thanks, anniversaries, appreciation, reconnecting, meeting someone at a networking event, and so on.

• Keep track of what types of notes you send and to whom, especially if you’re using templates to help you find the right words.

• Use company courtesy cards for attachments, rather than personal notes. For example, if you’re sending a copy of an article, it’s fine to paperclip your company’s courtesy card with a short note from you to the article. But use a folded card when not including an attachment; it’s more personal.

Carpe diem,

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Spend as much time cleaning house as you do building an addition.

Metaphorically, anyway. The idea here is that it’s easier to build more after you have perfected what you have. And for most of us, simplification is one of the ways to perfect what we have, given that most of us have too much (goals, projects, pressure, responsibilities, roles, etc.). So try reducing and perfecting while you are adding and building rather than just working hard to add, build, or create more.

Carpe diem,

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You don’t sell houses. Let me say it again, you don’t sell houses. Not in a successful marketing campaign. You sell your USP or Unique Selling Proposition. There are hundreds of thousands of agents in world today. If all you do is sell houses, then there are at least a few others that are willing to do the same thing. What makes you better than any other? Why should a client hire you? As an industry, we have been caught without enough distinction which is why over the last few years we have experienced such a high level of “Commission Compression.”

Here’s an example - If I were to buy a new BMW 7i and one dealer had one the car for $80,000 and another dealer could get the exact same car for $72,000 which would I choose? All things being equal, price will become my determining factor. But let’s say that I just wanted to buy a car that allows me to get to and from work in a safe comfortable manner. What makes me consider an $80,000 BMW versus an $18,000 Kia? Price no longer becomes the only factor. BMW knows they aren’t selling a car or mere transportation; they are selling “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” In fact, they’ve done quite well getting buyers to buy to satisfy the buyer’s own ego needs. And more interestingly, how many BMW owners would cop to ego being their primary reason for buying the car? With that said – let’s not beat up on the BMW crowd too bad, the same could be said about Lexus, Mercedes and others and they don’t have the distinction of being the “Ultimate Driving Machine.”

What is your USP? What are your strengths? What can and do you do better than anyone else? What are your values? What do you care about and hold most dear? Market around those things and you will find yourself in the rare air of those agents who make the rules about how the real estate game is played and who hold the top %1 who dominate the marketplace.

Carpe diem,

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