Don’t You Have A System To Sell?

I am repeatedly being asked why I haven’t gone the route of “seminars, books, and tapes”. The implication being that… as someone who buys and sells a lot of houses, has had a thriving real estate investment business, and also someone that owns a great real estate branding company, somehow I would dare to think of myself as qualified enough to go out and teach others.

Well, the truth is that I HAVE shared my investing and marketing knowledge with a lot of people over the years. Especially people that have connected to me through my business, 1-800-SELL-NOW. But, I have such a distaste for the majority of these “wanna be” guru types in the market that I would hate to ever be associated with that market.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of quality people out there that are genuinely trying to help people achieve their dreams of financial freedom through real estate. In fact, I was meeting with one this week – Larry Goins. Larry is as good as they get in the market – a quality guy trying to help as many people as he can. You’ll never meet a guy that is better thought of in this industry.

But for every Larry Goins and many others, there are literally thousands of “gurus” that 1) think that they know more than they actually do and 2) are purely looking at the books, tapes, and seminars as a profit play.

Being in my situation, I’ve seen or talked to a lot of them at one time or another. It’s always a little upsetting to me to see guys that have been in the business for a couple of years, have purchased a few homes within a 30 mile radius of their house, and suddenly they have this “wealth of knowledge” to go out and sell you a $100 of even $5,000 system that will somehow work in your own backyard.

So for the sake of not insulting the people sitting in Wichita, KS, Boise, ID, Orange County, CA or any other market that is drastically different from the markets that I invest in – I have never decided to pretend as though I have a system that will absolutely, positively work in their backyard. Now I am not on a soap box or anything, I just choose to focus on what we do very well and do it everyday. I get a lot of satisfaction from working with our clients around the country.

If you want a system – I can certainly give you my two cents on who I think can help you organize your business and provide you with some of the best tools – just ask. At the end of the day though it really comes down to a few things in my humble opinion:

• Market your business – let the world know that you exist. Bring buyers and sellers to you. There is absolutely no reason in the world to have to go looking for a deal when the deals can come directly to you. This is the single best investment that you can ever make in your real estate success. Create a local presence!! 1-800-SELL-NOW is a great tool to use for this.
• Know your strengths and weaknesses and be prepared to partner with others to help with your weaknesses. One Example: If you don’t know how to profit from a short sale opportunity – find someone that you can partner with – fast!
• Never stop building your network to help you deal with every opportunity that comes your way. If you market your business and in turn the calls come in – always have a way to profit from every client. I made this mistake and it cost me BIG TIME. I thought that I had enough buyers in my market….and stopped building out my list a few years ago. BIG MISTAKE – will never happen again.
• Measure your results. Take what is working and exploit it to the fullest. Look at where you are getting the best return on investment in time, money, and energy – then dial into it. Business 101.
• Just do it. Get involved. Be willing to take some measured risks and get some quality experience under your belt. If you have bought books and tapes and been to countless seminars but still have not done a deal, then what are you waiting for. NOW IS THE TIME. The market will never be any better than it is RIGHT NOW.
• Lastly, don’t let someone else steal your dream. Real estate is hard work and is A BUSINESS. Treat it like one. Have a plan and work it. If some guy down the street has the next “greatest idea” and wants your money to prove it – be cautious. The Internet has allowed so many so-called gurus to pop up with little or no qualifications. They buy a mailing list, berate you with emails, and then play the law of averages hoping that a small percentage will purchase their program……it’s a business! But it doesn’t have to be your business! DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND DO BUSINESS WITH QUALITY GUYS THAT CAN REALLY HELP YOU GROW YOUR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS.

P.S. One more thing to think about…Hope is not a strategy. I see a lot of real estate professionals in this market “hanging on” with the last shred of hope that it will somehow turn around for them. Don’t be that guy!!

If your business is off, calculate where you want to be and then most importantly – implement a definitive strategy to get there. The market has changed. If you haven’t changed your strategy as well, then you’re a dinosaur. It’s only a matter of time.

Figure out what the market is serving up to you and then how you can create revenue from it. I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there are a lot of people right now making an ENORMOUS amount of money in this market – it’s not bad for everyone! I will give you a perfect illustration of this…..

We have a new licensee that is a realtor. Investors are buying up every other house in her market. So she approached us about using 1-800-SELL-NOW to get the calls first from the local home sellers. Effectively positioning herself between the investor and the home seller. SHE”S KILLING IT NOW. When the investors want to buy houses now – they are starting to turn to her. Great, smart, and effective strategy. Figure out how to adapt and flourish.

As Always Good Luck In Real Estate

Kent Clothier