| Hey readers, I talk a lot about winning independence in real estate. You don't want to be dependent on lead companies like Zillow and Realtor.com. You don't want to be dependent on your broker. Heck, you don't really even want to be dependent on referrals to come your way. If you want to be successful in real estate, you need to take control of your own lead generation, so that you can capture new leads when and where you want. It reminds me of my own personal "Independence Day". I remember it like it was yesterday but it was actually September 1, 2002. You might find it inspirational, so I'll share it with you. I came into real estate -- like many of you -- as a second career. Being new to the business, I followed the advice of many experts whose books I'd read or whose training I took either in person or by recording. Now, I should mention that I had very high expectations: I expected to replace the six-figure income I had earned in my previous career and I was willing to work hard to do it. All the experts agreed that I'd make a lot of money by marketing to my "sphere of influence", producing a steady stream of referral business. I was excited because I am a very relational person, I have a large network of friends and acquaintances, and I make friends easily. That meant I was sure to do well relying on referral based business as long as I was diligent to consistently prospect my network. I divided my network by 25 (number of work days) so I would know how many to call each day, and worked through my database touching each person once a month by phone. I also mailed everyone my newsletter every month as well as postcards each time I got a new listing.. I was doing it just like I'd been trained — I was the poster child for networking or sphere of influence marketing. After three months of doing that, I realized that I was on track to make a whopping $30K for the year (which coincidentally was what the average agent made in 2002). What a disaster. How could I leave a job making $200-300K and jump into a new business making a tiny fraction of that?? The principle is simple: Do what everyone else is doing and you will get the results that everyone else is getting. Duh! That's the dumbest thing anyone can do -- exactly what everyone else does! And yet we fall into that type of thinking all the time. Maybe because it feels "safe". But in fact it's the most dangerous thing anyone can do. To me there's nothing more dangerous than just giving in and accepting a $30K/year income. I decided that wouldn't work for me. I had that "aha moment" where I realized that if I wanted to replace my income I needed to do something different. Sure, I was all for referral-based business — it seems easier because there is already a personal connection so there's no fear of rejection like there is with meeting people outside your network. The problem was that my network (and I had a large network because I had been a local business person for two decades) was not large enough to produce more transaction volume. The world was changing very quickly in 2002, and people just didn't rely on referrals from friends or neighbors like they once did. I would need to have a much bigger network to make more money. And even if I were somehow able to expand my personal network by three or four times, which was doubtful, I wouldn't have the time to adequately prospect that network, much less actually practice any real estate. Let's face it — there are only 24 hours in every day! I was confronted with the simple reality that I would have to supplement that "easy" business with my own lead generation, and I had to figure out a way to do it inexpensively. I had a gut feeling that people had begun to shop online so I set out to find my additional customers there but my website was not producing any business. I was forced to fundamentally rethink my website — to design a website that was focused on capturing leads and not just giving out information. And that changed everything. Nearly overnight, I went from famine to feast. I had so much business I had to either turn it away or find people to help me, so I began to hire agents and formed a team. My independence day was the day I realized that I could no longer depend on the "automatic" referral business to make my income goals. I had been "dependent" on the size of my personal network, and so I was limited in how much business I could do and the income I could earn. When I realized I needed to generate my own leads and not wait for them to come to me, my life and real estate practice changed forever. It was a decision. I DECIDED to be independent. The good news is that you can make that same decision. It's actually easier now than it was in 2002 because you don't have to figure out how to generate the leads like I did. I had to invent the technology to capture the business because it was not available anywhere. Today you don't have to reinvent the wheel… you just have to DECIDE that you want to be independent. Here's the bottom line: This year the average agent will earn just over $40K by doing almost exclusively referral-based business. If you're okay with that sort of income, just do what everyone else is doing, and you can expect those same results. But if you'd like to quit being dependent on your personal network to bring you the business, join me and make this your Independence Day. Get my Ultimate Website system -- the collection of tools I use to capture and covert 2-3 customer leads per day on autopilot. Can you imagine how good it would feel to never wonder where your next client is coming from? Can you imagine how liberating it would feel to TURN AWAY customers you didn't feel like working with!? You may think I sound like a jerk, but it feels awesome. What's holding you back, honestly? You can reply to this email and tell me whatever your hangups are. I won't make fun of you. I've heard everything from "I'm waiting for the right timing" to "I can't sign up because I need to talk to my mom first" (I'm not joking). Hit reply and tell me what's on your mind. I'll bet whatever it is it's not as embarrassing as "I need to ask my mommy". Let's get over your hangups now though, because come next month, you're going to be a month behind where you should be for the year.
Get My Ultimate Website System (Wait. Did you check to see if it's available in your area?) The only thing that might stop you is if is already sold out. I know that your state has very limited availability right now. It only takes 10 seconds to check availability. Just click here to check. Are you still on the fence? Read this email from one of my readers... Hi Matt, We haven't met before…but I'm a longtime reader and started using your Ultimate Website in Feb. I know you like to share reader emails, so share this!! I got into real estate ten years ago when the market was booming, and--let's be honest--it was quite easy to make money!! I didn't really know what I was doing so the recession was devastating to my business. I've spent the last several years "just getting by" but this year I've decided that wasn't enough. Your way of doing business has always resonated with me but I've never been willing to part with the money. But I finally bit the bullet and started using your Ultimate Website in February, and I can honestly say this has been my busiest spring ever -- 8 transactions and counting!! To anyone who wants the Ultimate Website but doesn't want to spend the money, let me just say I wish I had gotten over myself a long time ago. I spend almost as much in bananas as I do on my website, and my website makes me money!!! P.S. Can't wait to see my name in your email blast ;) -- June, WI I probably have a lot of readers just like June. My approach to real estate makes intuitive sense to you, but you're a skeptical person. You'd love to have an endless supply of new customers in your inbox every day, but you doubt that it could really be that simple. And because you don't know where your next customer is coming from, you want to save every dollar you can. Well, be like June. Get over yourself and take the plunge. There will never be a better time to do it than now. If you're like most people, you spend more than $33/mo. on Starbucks. Imagine putting that same money into new lead capture technology and being flooded with customers -- as many as five per day while running free ads. Business would be good again, wouldn't it? Get My Ultimate Website System (Wait. Did you check to see if it's available in your area?) All the best, -Matt Jones P.S. - Have you joined my private Facebook group yet? It's free, and I'll sharing secret tactics I don't feel comfortable sharing on the blog. Join and meet and new like-minded agents. Guerilla Realty |
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
The story of how I finally "made it" in real estate
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