Realty World Northern California & Nevada

The truth of the matter is the fact that if you are not in the best of health both physically and mentally, your business is going to suffer, especially in today’s new business model.

For your own sake and for the sake of your business you need to put in place a very strong action plan to take control of those things that you can control.

Day in and day out I hear from individuals that are totally frustrated and overpowered by the stress they are under due to the pressures that the real estate profession that they chose as a vocation is placing on their lives. Many times it comes from those that are very organized, have direction in their personal lives and business. Many of those that I talk with are on the threshold of a panic attack, if not worse!

Take A Break!

In so many cases we are our own worst enemy. It is not the Lender, Title Company, Appraisers, nor work associates, it is us! We tend to find ourselves loading ourselves with too many ‘to do’s’ on our ‘To Do List’ and not allowing time to recharge our inner soul that drives us. Achievement in our lives needs to be on a scale that allows us to shut down from time to time.

Do not allow your ‘To Do List’ to be the all controlling factor in your life. Instead turn it around and list those things that Do Not Need to be completed each day. This also pertains to behaviors and individuals that consume the force that allows you to be the best that you can be.

By the way those ‘electronic devises’ that we rely upon so much today need to be controlled. They ensnare us into thinking that we are productive and it does not allow one to shut down because we fall into the thinking that we are ‘busy’ when it is only a perception of being busy.

Refine your schedule for ‘your’ time! Everyone needs to be free from the pressures of the daily grind. This is so important, that if necessary, schedule your shut down time in your day planner and respect and hold it more hallowed than the time we put aside for our clients and business!

Live in the present and complete each undertaking well before moving on to the next one. The word ‘multitask’ handicaps so many in today’s business world. You need the ability to clearly see each undertaking, complete it fully before moving on. You need to be able to be organized and have the ability to sort out and define each task so that it can be completely accomplished.

And then there is my biggest pet peeve that chips away at the foundation of our lives, families, and business. Learn to say ‘NO.’ Yes, it is very hard to learn how to say ‘no’ to someone, however this goes back to the point made earlier, concerning behaviors, individuals, and undertakings that consume us. Don’t lie when you say ‘no’ state the facts and reasons even to the point that you just need some free time to organize your thoughts.

Once again, for your mental and physical well being: Take A Break!

So, you’re probably wondering amidst all the good news about the economy spun from the dominate media culture, why the economy still feels bad? Simple answer, many in the media complex don’t run businesses and they are listening to people who don’t run businesses for their sources. What to do?

Well, if you’re like most real estate people I know; you’re working 5 times harder for less than half the income. You’re not alone either. You know where the vacant buildings, warehouses and retail stores are; you drive by them every day. Just last summer a little over two-thirds of the entire industrial capacity in the US was working and in some sort of production use. Today, that has dropped to just under 75% or about 5 points less than normal when the economy is doing well. Don’t hear that in the news to you?

What does all this mean to your income? It means you have to see and touch more people with your value proposition in person. Belly to belly. Face to face. A prospect can’t send you to the deleted file, mail filter or trash can. They have to talk with you at some point, hence your selling strategy and listening skills had better be ready and oiled for action.

What advantage will I have in this scenario? Well, most salespeople are going to be dead before they start. Meaning they are getting ready to get ready. They will never go anywhere. You know who I’m talking about too. Second, most salespeople will resist the street in favor of blast emails, wasted postage and off line gimmicks from personal promotion to refrigerator magnets. That will account for about 93% of the competition. 7% will know this and immediately shift to the street for instant prospecting and immediate results. Remember, even a call on a prospect that has to interest to purchase or sell is a worthwhile event. It tells you who’s not players; sharpens your tactical skill and presents an opportunity for seeking referrals.

Those same 7 percent will communicate not only in person, but will use that offline call time to redirect their prospect to an online resource (namely their BLOG) to keep the prospect attenuated to the needs analysis and selling points of your in person call. Similarly, to what you do in the online world.

There is no better time to wake up and smell the pavement.

The iPhone 4 pre-order was made available today. Were you able to get one?

If you were like me you went to the Apple website and tried… and tried… and tried, only to receive the “Your request couldn’t be processed.” The Apple’s online pre-order system used an eligibility check for existing AT&T customers, which appears to have been the cause of the issue. Additional problems arose for users who attempted to pre-order using the Apple retail store software from the App Store and found the software hung up at a “processing” screen while checking eligibility for their upgrade.

Even with all of the “processing” issues, the pre-orders for the iPhone 4 stopped from the AT&T website as of around 1:30pm Pacific from the AT&T website. So I guess in between all of the problems there were people that were able to get their hold on the prized iPhone 4.

As if the problems of today is not bad enough rumors have been circulated that a potential AT&T security breach worse than the one encountered days before with the iPad 3G email addresses being leaked. AT&T reports it has been unable to reproduce the issue but users are reporting that they are logging into their AT&T accounts only to find out they are looking at someone else’s account information. Talk about a case of “when it rains, it pours.”