The New Year is around the corner and I can hardly believe yet another year is nearly history. I look around me at my office, read the blogs on Active Rain, listen to the news, etc. and I find it interesting what I have observed. I know this won't be a popular blog because the truth hurts and I don't have cute characters running across the screen but this is my honest assessment of what I have observed:
- A few agents are still sitting at their desks and waiting for the market to improve and business to start walking in thier front door.
- Many agents are spending more time on Active Rain while the market is slow and blogging their hearts away since the housing market is slow.
- Other Realtors are looking for some website that will be a lead generating machine that will send them the few serious leads that are out there to be had.
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Having survived 3 major real estate cycles I have seen which Realtors barely survive, which exist, and which prosper in any market.
I wrote a blog earlier in the year about "Getting off the bench and getting into the game". By this I meant that no football player that sits on the bench continuously will ever be remembered. On the other hand, a Realtor that sits in his/her office waiting for magic to happen will never be seen by the public.
Writing blogs 24/7 on Active Rain or on any other site won't bring in business unless they are lead generating blogs that can make you visible to the public and draw business in. We all know that the majority of blogs written on Active Rain are for sharing of information but few will draw business soon so we need to make a decision on how much time to invest in blogging. I know some members are spending hours a day creating either multiple blogs or time consuming blogs taking hours to write. Results will come from where we invest our time and energies. In other words, we reap what we sow. I am not discouraging blogging, I have seen great benefits from it. I am simply advising everyone to find a balance. If we are not getting the results we want in life we need to change our habits to get the results we want.
Websites that promise quality leads are few and far between. I have spoken to numerous Active Rain members that have paid thousands of dollars to lead generation websites only to have yet another tax deduction with no real return.
Truly successful Realtors are selling real estate the same way today as it was sold 25 years ago. The only thing that has changed is the incorporation of technology.
- Successful Realtors are rarely seen in the office. They are either meeting with buyers and sellers or involved with civic organizations like Optimist Club, Kawanis, Toastmasters, etc.
- All of their efforts keep them visible in the public's eye and they are more likely to generate leads simply by being visible in public.
- It basically is as simple as this: People are drawn to do business with those that are "in the game" and visible. Realtors that are continuously in contact with their sphere of influence and always involved in their board or civic groups will have a much higher chance of generating business. The media is also attracted to these kind of agents and will seek them out for interviews.
These are the traits I have seen in all successful Realtors. Simply doing the things day in and day out that give them the best opportunity to generate business.
Sorry this blog didn't knock your socks off with flash and lots of color and images. You see it took me 30 minutes to write and post this blog and then I was busy scheduling my to-do's for tomorrow.
My humble opinion
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George,
Your words could not be more true.
When I go to my office the first thing I hear is, "Wow! You're here! We never see you in here."
They don't see me because I am busy - busy meeting people, building relationships, listing homes and cultivating some buyers. My office is full of great folks, but they aren't wanting to buy or sell a home with me.
For those that don't bother to get out and be seen - they are missing out. For those that are waiting for someone to walk by and drop viable contacts in their lap - they are missing out.
I'm in the game - all the way through the overtime runs.
Sheri - Thanks and have a great evening
Hi George,
Hey come on it's great to blog. I think some customers out in Idaho who read this should give George a call right now and list a house with him or something.
Sounds like RE is, and for the most part...always will be...people doing business with people...
Thanks George...
Yes, it's all about keeping the balance. We only have so much time and must allocate the majority of it to income producing activities. What's that real estate saying---highest and best use...
Three quick comments:
I love ActiveRain it is a wonderful career tool if used properly. Somedays I feel I found the pot at the end of the rainbow .
Amazing and simple. There is no magic to success. Thank you for saying what everyone knows in their heart.
In this market we are bombarded with offers of easy ways out. It is said a fool and his money are invited to a lot of parties.
George
Yesterday, I was approached by the office administrator asking me if I wanted floor time at night? I said no and their reply was well your here anyway to late night so why not cover the phones. I told them the reason I come in at night is to get my paper work and follow up work done before I go home. And then this $12.00 p/hr. person asks me well what do you do during the day? My reply was make sure you have a place to come and ask stupid questions.
It's now 4:12 am and I am blogging that's when I normally have the time to do this type of stuff. When it is raining and I am not on the phones during the day and need a break I'll check in here and make a few comments. But other than that, SeeYa!
George-
I agree 100%. Quite a few months ago I made the decision to only blog consumer baised info and the return has been amazing.
George,
You are soo right! Consumers want to see us, some have never even heard of a blog. I have something similar (but not as good) in draft, you were in my head!
George,
Narcissistic blogging and goofy ranting in public do not deserve to be rewarded.
Cut and paste blogging does not deserve to be rewarded.
Good readable relevant content IS in demand, and will bring some business.
But...Balance and moderation in all things.
Obsessively blogging 24/7 is neglecting life and business.
Oh, and I agree 100% about agents who are not willing to go get the business, but wait for business to find them. They are dropping like flies.
George,
Your words ring true. I was discussing AR and brought up the same isubject to my collegues. AR is a wonderful tool to use but one needs to use care not let it overwhelm you. Meeting people and building relationships is still a tried and true formula for sucess.
George How right you are!
The trick is to balance balance balance.
I once had an office manager ask me "Are you still in the business? we never see you in the office anymore"
DUH - I can't make money in the office.
Great post I give it a thumbs up.
Good post...You can't be passive and make it in this business. Gotta make the calls and generate leads.
Blogging, Leads Coming in, Conversion and Appointment process all requires a delicate balance. I almost fell off the tightrope as they started trickling in late last winter. At one point I got so busy that I was barely able to get my posts in but found the tag clouds and SEO dries up if you don't do it. It's no different than print or telemarketing. If you get too busy to look for leads or you aren't looking for leads, your sources will dry up. I think it is important to put whatever works into your daily schedule whether you are busy to the point of insanity or not.
Of course that doesn't mean blogging or social networking 24/7! It means scheduling yourself 3-5 hours a day prospecting. My prospecting means are blogging, using classified sites, working my sphere and :gulp: picking up the phone to talk to the low hanging fruit.
George...Thanks so much for the much needed (at least for me) reminder to get back to basics. It's easy in a slower market to find other things to do. Your advise is exactly right. We should continue to make time for the newer ways to increase our business but always remember the best of the OLD.
Good job.
Kathleen
P.S. I'm going to re-read your post again after breakfast. I'm interested in knowing what comments you've received.
As soon as business got a little slower for me I stopped going into the office as much; now I'm down to a couple hours a week. I'm finding more success in getting together with past and present clients, working my listings, and going to (almost) any social event that comes my way that I find interest in. And I started blogging on Active Rain and getting to know many people here.
I've had to watch myself very closely so that I don't spend more than an hour a day here on Active Rain because it is addicting! I also still preview lots of homes(broker's opens) so that I can keep my knowledge base up, and keep in contact with other area Realtors.
People can have a tendency to retreat within themselves when business is slow. But now is the perfect time to do the opposite.
Hi George,
Yes, we all have to make business in our own way. The beauty of real estate is that there are so many ways to do it and that your success depends on only yourself. Also the amount of success is a matter of what one finds to be the definition of success. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Luckily this fits with my overall marketing "plan"... yes, there is a campaign. I have been working at producing lead generating content, and getting the SEO up my site for organic results.
Comments on the other hand are just for fun.
George, thank you for the reminder. I do all the right things, but half of the time. I need to be more consistent. By the way, it is time to get the Christmas Cards out to our past clients/sphere of influence.
I write my posts in the early morning, and like others have mentioned in the comments above, I consider it a part of my strategy. My wife realized the importance of my being out there, and introducing myself, when she saw that it brought in results, and now she informs people of what I do to help generate business.
I did want to add one twist to the importance of blogging, and what you should consider blogging about. A recent study in Houston showed that the Internet is becoming more of a tool to our clients. They are looking for information about the market that makes sense to them. For first time home buyers, you will see them seeking stories on the process of buying a home, so they understand it. They want their fears allayed. Seller want to know about what they may face in the market place. If we speak with authority on issues of concern to those who are paying our bills, we may find more of them coming to us for our service.
Good morning to all and thank you for your comments. I didn't believe this post would be featured and it surprised me. Sorry I don't have the time now to answer all of you individually because I had appointments this morning. I wish you all well and I hope you find a great balance.
George, I just looked at the clock on my computer and realized I have been on Active Rain for over an hour! Sometimes it's easier to sit behind the computer than it is to get out there and shake things up. It seems that we, Active Rainers, are particularly vulnerable and married to our computers as we are likely the most tech interested group of realtors. In many ways, however, Active Rain is not only a form but one of the best forms of networking available to realtors. And, in this market, it feels good to have this network.
Kelly
Writing blogs 24/7 on Active Rain or on any other site won't bring in business unless they are lead generating blogs that can make you visible to the public and draw business in.
Well said George - Writing just to write won't get you anywhere but tired and frustrated. Knowing how to market your business and your blog effectively is the name of the game.
Thank you for my daily kick in the pants....
You are right, sitting in the office doesn't generate the business it should (although it does occasionally generate some) but we really do need to be, for lack of a better southern term, out amongst 'em.
Ok....shutting down and going out right now...thanks!
I'm new to AR, but with all due respect, I did notice you have a lot of points---doesn't that equal a tremendous amount of time spent blogging? Or is there another way to generate points that I am not aware of? I have 10,000 and that small amount has required hours of reading, commenting and posting. My goal was to increase my visibility online and Google is finding me now--hooray! And besides, it does gives me something productive to do at 3 AM--you can only play Pogo games for so long!
Thanks for reminding me to keep things in balance.
I suppose everyone needs to find their own individual idea of success and the balance they want. For me? I live close to everything....I'm blogging...have no children...small house to clean....and going to show property at noon....will run a few errands after...then come back ...throw on dinner and blog... and then I also work 2.5 days in our office in admin per week so ....I guess I'm on overload sometimes. :) Most of the time I'm good to go. On top of everything else...finally getting over my chest cold. YUK.
George, You are very observant. Although I am only in my first major change in the market in my career - I know I had to survive, being the sole breadwinner for my home. I got ahead of the curve with short sales back in the early spring and as a result I started picking up lender owned properties. I now have over 20 listings. Other than the bank owned stuff, everything that I get these days is from ActiveRain, so yes there is a place for it - but keep it in it's place. I had been away from blogging for about 2 months and yet one day last week, I received 5 "come list me" calls - of which I only accepted 3. There is business out there - we just need to be pro-active and make it work.
Now Have a Blessed Day,
John Occhi, Hemet REALTOR®
Mission Grove Realty
Good evening every and "thank you" for loving it Vickie
Good evening every and "thank you" for loving it Vickie
George, brilliant observation, thanks for sharing. They key is to write for the audience you want to attract, and that buyer/seller will come into your life, guranteed. This is the simple secret of blogging. Nothing more, nothing less.
Diane
Chris - If it can help someone, GO FOR IT!
Diane - Thank you so much!
I think there is a balance we need to find in maintaining our online activity and our out-of-the-office, off-of-the-internet activity. Both are equally important, I think; you can't win a football game with just a defense.
Brian Wilson, Zolve.com
Brian - True words and thank you for stopping by.
Gearge,
Your comments are right on the money. A successful realtor is an "active and visible" real estate agent. When I first started out in the business, my manager's advice was "to be a good and successful agent, you cannot be a secret agent". The internet is just another tool to connect with new prospects. At the end of the day, the question is "Why a home owner should deal with you and not another realtor?"
George,
Great words of wisdom. Everything in moderation. I find I have to severely limit my time here and on my blog. Yes, it does bring in business, but we don't need 100 blogs to do that.
George, great post and very excellent reminders. Thank you for sharing the benefit of your experience once again. I'll admit I didn't read all the comments here so if this is redundant forgive me. The balance between blogging and prospecting and face to face and all of the lead-generating stuff must also include time to be working "on" the business. Whether this is IN the office or at the home office, this time must be scheduled too. So although no money is made from being IN the office, I hope folks understand they'd better be running their business as a business in '08 or they won't be around this time next year.
-Colleen
Tchaka - Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Gary - Thank you my friend
Richard - You are very welcome
Colleen - Thanks for your insight and I hope all is well
George comment Number 101 for Business sense 101.
You are right and unless you are getting "out there" will be left out in the cold for sure! Good Job George! Keep em coming!