Tuesday, April 15, 2014


Five Easy Steps to Ignite Your Business

There are two types of motivation, Internal and External. Internal motivation comes from deep within…some say it is a burning desire. Or think of it as a fire or ravenous hunger which a few special people always have burning inside them which drives them to be better than they were yesterday.
External motivation is very different, it could be you have bills to pay, mouths to feed, or the wolves are pounding on the door so loudly you will do anything to make it stop. Unlike Internal motivation…External motivation quickly fades after the immediate need has been met…

Think about the circle of life of a Gazelle and a Lion. The Lion runs because he has an internal desire for a successful hunt while the Gazelle runs because he is being chased by the Lion. When the Lion stops running so do the Gazelle.
Below are 5 simple steps to become the Lion…but like the old tale goes…”Whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle, when the sun comes up…start running!”

STEP ONE: WRITTEN GOALS
Establish Goals with a written business plan…What is written in 70% more likely to be achieved. Discover your why…What moves or drives you?

STEP TWO: TEST THE MARKET
Narrow your focus…don’t try to do everything at once. Pick 2-3 platforms for driving your business and then “test” them to see which ones work and which ones don’t. Once you have established which types of marketing work for you proceed to step 3.

STEP THREE: HAVE A PLAN
Develop a plan using the market tested ways you want to use to grow your business. Create a list of “items of value”, you can send to clients both electronically and via snail-mail with hand written notes attached. Become the trusted advisor to your Book of Business (B.o.B.) and demonstrate you care about their needs.

STEP FOUR: SYSTEMS
Develop a system to maintain regular contact with your B.o.B. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. Top Producer or Realty Juggler are great electronic choices, but even an old 4x5 card file system is better than no system. Know what (and when) you have sent and said to your B.o.B. is important to your long term success. This leads us to the last step…

STEP FIVE:   Track and Measure Your Success…
If you don’t know where you have been... how do you know where you are headed? It is impossible to improve on what you don’t measure. Take some time each week to look over your activities,the results and hold yourself accountable. If you can’t hold yourself accountable… get someone to do it for you… team up with another associate to become accountability partners…or better yet, get a trained coach who can assist you with growing your business and holding you accountable for your daily business activities.

Final thoughts: If your real estate business is not where you want it to be…who is to blame…Is it someone else?... Is it the market?....Or, is it you? The first step to growing is to discover your “truths”. Be honest with yourself and lay it all out on the table… Growth requires change…and change is sometimes hard.
As Rifiki from the Lion King said “Ahhh, Change is Good”…“ The past can hurt...but the way I see it is… you can either run from it…or learn from it!”

Test the market and learn from your mistakes, track your successes and keep systems in place and watch your business soar!
Hakuna Matata !

Eddie Brown