Another great episode about finding the right talent to help you reach the next level in your business! As a current administrator in the real estate industry, Margaret Smith has the best insight into what kind of direction a fantastic admin needs in order to help your business excel. She also shares some great tips on how to make that agent/admin relationship blossom as you navigate the tricky world of letting go of your everyday tasks and allowing someone else to take some of that unnecessary weight off your shoulders.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but for me, and most of the agents I know, letting go is a pretty tough concept. We tend to be control freaks and it’s difficult for us to hand over our responsibilities to someone else, especially in a business that we built ourselves and is so personal. However, it’s SO vital to our success! In order for any business to be successful, communication needs to be at the top of your priority list with everyone on your team whether they are sales people or administrative staff. It’s important to establish where your daily priorities lie and what goals you intend to accomplish that year.  

I cannot say it enough, without that extra help you are only holding your business back from breaking through that ceiling giving you the leverage you need to make your growing success in real estate a reality.  At the end of the day, you need to run your business like a business because one person cannot consistently or realistically keep up with the growing demands more clients entails without help. Take a listen to all Margaret has to offer. It’s always insightful to hear an insider’s perspective. I think we can all learn a lot about what our current admins may need from us to help them bring growth to our business and what some of us may need to be looking for in finding the right person to help us get there.

 

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways from this episode.

The Value of Letting Go

How to Find the Right Talent to Help Your Business Grow

The Importance of Implementing Systems & Operations into Your Business

How to Establish Good Communication with Your Team

What a blast I had chatting with CEO of Your Realty Leverage, Brindley Tucker! She is such a kick! Her passion for life along with training, coaching, and hiring the right people to help you increase your productivity as you grow your business in real estate, mirrored everything I believe to be important when shooting for that next level.

Brindley hears one of two things when realtors discuss hiring an admin – I don’t have time to find help or I can’t afford to find help. You have to MAKE the time or your business will never grow. It is impossible to do everything yourself, you’re not a machine. Believe it or not, there are people in the world, unlike most of us real estate agents, that LOVE paperwork and entering listings. They love tasks, details, and all the day-to-day nuances that we don’t have the patience for, that drive us crazy! Hire those people! Find the person that compliments you, not the one that’s exactly like you. Your business only needs one you!

We all need someone that will fill in where we fall behind, but it won’t happen overnight. If you want someone to invest in your business, you need to invest in them first. TRAIN them! Help them grow so that they can help your business grow allowing you to do what you do best – sell homes!

I could go on and on about how amazing and valuable the tips Brindley shared with us today are, but I think it’d be much more beneficial if you took a listen for yourself. I cannot explain what a game changer having someone there to pick up the slack and keep your business running makes. Take the advice, use it, and watch what a difference a little leverage can make in your business.  

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways from this episode.

Two Key Motivators in Business

The Value of Hiring Help

When to Hire Leverage

How to Recruit the Right Talent for Your Business

Show Links

Brindley's Company Website - Your Realty Leverage

Brindley's Free eBook - "5 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring and Retaining Talent"

What an amazing conversation with powerhouse sales expert, Jennifer Diepstraten. Jennifer took her expertise and experience in sales and started her own coaching business where she helps entrepreneurs grow and improve their personal businesses.

Have you ever thought about charging more money for your services? What stops you? As Jennifer shared, most of her clients start to internally question their personal value, they worry no one will pay the higher price, and they ultimately fear the amount of business they will lose if they raise their rates. In reality, WE are the ones who are uncomfortable with the higher price, not the clients. Some people will not be able to afford us, but the reality is, that’s already true of our current rate. It is the confidence we have in ourselves, our expertise, and our value that needs to change because once we do that, the right clients will come and they WILL pay.

There is so much that goes into selling ourselves, our product, and our business. Real estate is personal and selling something personal always makes the sale aspect more difficult. If you try to help everyone that can’t afford you, it will no longer be a business, it’ll be a hobby. You have to not only have the confidence to ask for the rate you deserve, but know how to properly communicate that price with prospective clients. Changing our mindsets and being confident in who we are and what we bring to the table as professionals in our field will allow our businesses to grow in the best way possible. Find out how you can take your confidence and sales to the next level from the sales Rockstar herself!

 

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways from this episode.

Two Key Components of Making a Sale

How to Improve Your Own Value

The Importance of Communication in Sales

Why Confidence Leads to Success

Another GREAT podcast episode with the one and only, Steve Jolly! Since we last spoke in 2016, he has taken his business to bigger and better heights. Now an author of the book, “Kill Cold Calls: How to Generate a Six-Figure Income like Direct Marketing Legends without Cold Calls,” is an incredible read and worth every penny.  His insight into tackling the marketing aspect of our business without having to make those awful, awkward, and dread-worthy cold calls while still bringing in substantial and profitable leads is brilliant!

So how do you go about getting that phone to ring without making outbound calls? It sounds impossible, but it’s actually pretty simple. Not only does Steve share how to get that phone to ring, but he tells us how to get the people you WANT to work with to call you. He breaks down his process from beginning to end and even gives us his own secrets for generating those 5 Star Prospects - the people you not only want to work with, but are ready to buy/sell right now.

Our industry as a whole has a LONG way to go when it comes to marketing, but what’s great about technology is that there are SO many marketing tools at our fingertips we just need to put on our marketing hats and figure out how to make the most of them. Whether it’s the hunt for 5 star prospects or building relationships that lead to a dialogue about real estate, we have to make the effort to market ourselves without calling strangers. There ARE other options! If Steve and I can do it, you can too! Take a listen to this podcast to learn how you too can say goodbye to cold calls and hello to profitable relationships!

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways you get from this episode.

How to Generate 5 Star Prospects

The End of Cold Calls

3 Keys to Building Profitable Client Relationships 

The Value of a Great Headline

Show Links

Kill Cold Calls: How to Generate a Six-Figure Real Estate Income like Direct Marketing Legends without Cold Calls by Steve Jolly

Steve's Facebook Group - Real Estate Marketing All-Stars

Steve's Real Estate Website

Headline Analyzer

There is so much to learn about social media. Its role in our business and personal lives has grown so rapidly in the last few years that it’s hard to know where to start or how to grow your business online. That’s where the award winning marketer, author, and Chief Marketing Officer for Post Planner, Rebekah Radice comes in to shed some light on the best strategies for visual and social marketing.

Thanks to social media, you not only have a great space to connect with a wider scope of people at one time, but you have the opportunity to virtually be face to face with them. Live videos and recordings have only increased since Facebook Live came out and as Rebekah said, it will only continue to grow in how we use it for business. Speaking to a large scale of people at once with Facebook Live is beneficial, but are you speaking to the RIGHT people? There is so much value in knowing your target audience. When someone can cater to what it is you as a consumer fears, needs, and wants you become the perfect resource for everything that audience is looking for.

So how do you know who your target audience is and how do you engage with them? Rebekah shared some AMAZING tips for discovering the answer to those two pivotal questions. She explains how to figure out what kind of content your audience is looking for, how to speak to them, how to help them find you, and how to maintain consistency once you establish that following.

Finding the perfect marketing strategy, figuring out what type of content to share, and how to engage with your audience are some of the biggest challenges we face when approaching social media and visual marketing, but the answers are right in front of you simply aren’t asking the right questions. Want the answers? Take a listen and jump start your journey with the perfect marketing strategy for building and maintaining client relationships.

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways you get from this episode.

3 Key Points for Marketing Strategies

The Value of Knowing Your Audience

How to Build Relevant Content

The Direction Marketing is Headed & How to Get There

Show Links

Rebekah Radice's Website

Post Planner

"How to Use Social Media to Virtually Crush the Competition" by Rebekah Radice

The Color of Success!

Danielle Fuhrman is a Certified Color and Styling Expert and the owner of a full service image consulting business, Reflections of You.  Color me impressed, but I was completely fascinated by everything she had to offer! Color plays such a vital role in our daily lives through the energy it creates, the way it makes us feel about ourselves, and the way we connect with people.

Have you ever gone to an event where the speaker had a color on that was so distracting that rather than listening to the message you spent the entire time focused on their attire? They were probably wearing a color that was overpowering their own coloring. You want people to connect with you, not your wardrobe. Danielle shared why knowing your color pallet and wearing colors that fit your personality, your eye color, or your own personal coloring can make such a difference in most everything you do, especially when it comes to building relationships with clients. 

Color can affect the way we connect with someone. A handshake makes such a difference in the way we connect with other people. It opens ourselves us to a conversation and bridges that gap. As Danielle said, one of the best colors you can wear for real estate agents, or anyone in sales, when meeting someone for the first time is your eye color. It not only brings out your eyes, but it creates an instant connection that is trustworthy and credible. It allows your client to feel comfortable developing a deeper relationship with you.

If you haven’t had your colors done, you should! Knowing your color pallet and wearing clothes that incorporate those colors can make all the difference in the world by enhancing your confidence and opening yourself up to trustworthy and deeper connections with those around you. Learn more tips on what colors will help build relationships with clients and what can deter them. The right color can be the difference between a dead lead and a successful transaction. Take a listen and discover how color can work for you! 

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways you get from this episode.

Building Connections Through Color

The Truth about Black

How to Make Your Home a Comfortable Space

Why Eye Color is the Best Color

What a pleasure speaking with this week’s guest, Jeff Lobb! As a real estate coach, founder and CEO of SparkTank Media, a growth strategy company that focuses on technology, sales, and marketing for real estate, mortgage, and title industries, Jeff touched on some of the problems agents face that is keeping them from achieving that next level and as a fellow coach, I couldn’t agree with him more.

So much of our day, as agents, is trying to do it all ourselves. There are only so many hours in the day and never enough time to do it all. We all know that’s not physically possible yet we can’t swallow our pride long enough to ask for help. As Jeff puts it, you need to spend at least 80% of your day doing what YOU do best. For him, that’s sales. One of his strengths is sales or listing appointments, which is honestly a lot of agent’s forte mine included. However, the paperwork, entering listings, and all that type C business, not our thing. There comes a point in every business where you reach the ceiling and you can either get some help to push right on through to grow your business or you become so inundated that your business spirals downward. The key is accomplishing any level of success is you have to want it to achieve it.

No one wants to give up control, especially the control freaks, but in this business, or any successful business, you have to. To get to where you want to be, you have to divvy by the reigns. Jeff used the perfect comparison of a doctor’s office. Do you want your surgeon to be handling billing, answering the phones, signing people in, and prepping for your surgery at the same time? No, you want him to be focused on you, the patient, and do what he does best which is performing the surgery. So why do we treat real estate any differently?

 Most agents get into this business because they love to help people, they’re great at sales and building those trustworthy relationships. Why is so important to have your hand in every aspect of your business instead of hiring someone to do that for you so you can focus on what YOU do best? Real estate isn’t complicated, it’s actually pretty easy. You simply have to go out and do it. Jeff was full of insightful nuggets including an AWESOME social media tip! Take listen and find out more!

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways you get from this episode.

How to Make Social Media Work For You

The Importance of Doing What You Do Best

The Value of Execution

Finding Your Own Stream of Prospects

What an honor to have the founder of eXp Realty and CEO of eXp World Holdings Inc., Glenn Sanford as a guest on our show! Glenn’s business looks nothing like anything in the real estate industry today. His CLOUD based company is soaring in terms of how effective, efficient, and beneficial it is for everyone that joins. An agent owned business that distributes equity to productive agent owners is the first of its kind, but there is no question that it is already flying on the wings of success.

Glenn started his business with the desire to bring value to agents and brokers alike. He franchised a business model that pulled people in and focused on funnel marketing. The success he is experiencing far exceeds that of a bricks & mortar within a local community because of the depths of talent that is virtually available to him at any given time. Being able to connect and work with leadership from anywhere at any time is invaluable!

So let me ask you this, “How can we eliminate the physical real estate office?” Simple, how many of you spend your whole day sitting in the office in the first place? Not many. 95% of our business can be conducted virtually so why couldn’t that include our office? The only aspect of our business that remains local is our client relationships. Real estate is not about having your own office, it’s about having relationships with clients that matter and are based on trust.

Clients want someone reliable that helps them achieve what they have already set out to do, which is buy or sell their home. Glenn said it best, “It’s not about selling them A home, real estate is about helping clients choose the RIGHT home and helping them through that process of making that home their own. “ It’s a powerful statement that applies to the real estate industry as a whole. Take a listen to hear even more thought provoking concepts shared by Glenn that may very well change the way you approach business and ultimately how you succeed.

 

Show Features

Here are some key takeaways from this episode.

The Importance of Reliability

The Value of Client Relationships

How & When to Handle an Objection

The Effectiveness of an Agent Owned Brokerage

Mitch Stephen is a real estate investor, educator, and author of three books. I love his book entitled “My Life & 1,000 Houses: Failing Forward to Financial Freedom.” The term ‘failing forward’ is so true for all of us! We learn the most from our failures. We figure out what not to do, what doesn’t work for us personally, and how to do it better the next time. We are all striving to find our niche, the right track that will lead us to success. Mitch made an excellent point – so many people try to master every angle of this business from farms, to investments, to commercial real estate, or residential real estate, but you can’t have your hand in that many pots and expect not to get burned. You are much more likely to succeed if you find that ONE strategy that works the best for you, learn everything you can about it, and hit the ground the running.

For Mitch, that niche was owner financing. He shared his journey of failing as a landlord, but discovering the value and profit behind owner financing. He took a strategy he knew he liked and wanted to master, investedin a professional that was already succeeding at it, and learned everything he could so that he too could find success within his chosen niche.

There is always going to be someone that knows more than you or has already done what you are trying so desperately to accomplish. Instead of envying them, USE them! Take advantage of their knowledge! Invest in yourself by investing in them. Pay someone to help guide you. We are so busy trying to master every area of this business that we lose sight of the value of investing in our own strengths. Find out how to be like Mitch and chose a strategy, master it, and watch your business soar. It’s easier than you think. Take a listen and find out for yourself.

 

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways you get from this episode.

The Value of Failing Forward

How to Find Your Niche

The Ins & Outs of Owner Financing

Why You are More Likely to Succeed in a Strategy You Love

 

Show Links

Mitch Stephen's Website

Mitch Stephen's Books

Mitch Stephen's Podcast

It was a pleasure having the CEO of MMS Management in New York City, Andrew Barrocas, as a guest on my podcast show! What an awesome way to start out the year 2017! The New Year signifies a clean slate. The chance to start fresh with new goals and aspirations for our businesses and our personal lives, but how do we reach those goals? How do we hold ourselves accountable?

As a prominently respected real estate authority in the city of New York, Andrew has sold over 5 billion dollars worth of real estate property during the course of his career. That’s quite the feat! So how did he do it?!? Andrew shared with us the value of having an accountability partner or coach. Someone that holds you accountable and ensures you are on the right track to COMPLETING your goals throughout the year. You don’t need someone that will give you the thumbs up and go about their day, but someone that is willing to challenge you and push you to do everything you set your mind out to do.

So often our big list of goals we want to accomplish at the start of the year ranges anywhere from weight loss, to more time spent at home with our children, or a dollar amount we want to hit in terms of commissions or sales. Andrew shares with us why so many of those goals fall through the cracks and what steps need to be taken in order to keep yourself on track, as well as, the kind of people you should surround yourself with that will only push you to be best you can be. Do you want to get to the end of 2017 KNOWING you reached every goal you set out to accomplish this year?? Take a listen to this episode and find out how to make that dream a reality!

 

Show Features

Here are some of the key takeaways you get from this episode.

The Value of an Accountability Coach

3 Key Categories for Setting Goals

How to Measure Your Goals & Accomplishments

The Key to Success in Real Estate