Here we are, half way through the year almost. Have you looked in the mirror lately?  On a daily basis I receive emails from Realtors all around the world struggling to succeed in this business.  I am a little perplexed at all the emails actually.  As soon as I ask them my first question, though, the answer is clear.

My question is usually something like, “How are you doing compared to your yearly business plan?” or “What are you doing to ensure you have implemented your business plan?”  I always get the same old answer: “Well I don’t really have a written business plan” or “Sure, I wrote my goals down, I always do…what’s an action plan?”

So what seems to be the disconnect between Realtors and running a business?

Firstly, let’s look at yourself.  Do you run your business as a business?  I had a great letter from an Agent of mine this year, it was for me to read to all my Agents.  Anna May has been in real estate for 20 years and has had many successes.  I don’t have the email handy, but I’ll paraphrase it:

Dear Tropical Realty Agents,

What are YOU doing to grow your business?  Most of you depend so much on Mitch to give you leads that you have become lazy in growing your own business.  What are you going to do on top of what Tropical does for us?  You are the CEO of your own company yet you don’t put the effort and enthusiasm needed to build a business.  It is always going to be up to you to support yourself in this business.  Regardless of how good we have it here, you could always be more successful.  Do you work full time?  Do you have your goals done? Did you assign each of your goals an action plan? Have you implemented your action plan or are they just words?  What are you doing to generate your own leads?  How many hours a week do you actually work?  Do you sit idle until your phone rings or are you proactive in building your own business?

That was the idea of the email.  Her email was actually more powerful and if I can dig it out of my thousands of emails, I’ll post it at some point.  The point Anna May is making is that most Realtors rely on their Brokers to help them generate their business.

The reality is most real estate Brokers only put their time into their successful Agents.  It’s up to you to build your business.  Since we are going to start the second half of the year, let’s evaluate your business now so that you can drive more business in the second half.

Take a few moments and look back at the first half of the year with an open and honest mind and answer the questions Anna May posed above.  What can you do to change?

Spend some time this week putting together your second half of your goals, your action plans.  Then start the following day with a strict work ethic that is needed for you to be successful.

If you look around at the 10% of real estate agents in the country that are actually making a good living, they all have one thing in common: they run their business as a business.

When you have a closing, take 20% of your money and put it toward marketing.  Educate yourself.  There are so many places online. Of course, the eHomes Realty Network is probably the best, that you can expand your knowledge.

Are you a learner?  I’m a constant learner.  I try to learn something new every week.  I always have a book going to keep my mind sharp and I’m constantly (ask my manager) making tweaks and changes to my business.  This is how you grow.  This is  how you become successful.

Become one of the 10%…it’s pretty fun when you can predict your business and grow your business each year.  It becomes more of a game than a constant chase for the dollar.  I personally have never worried about my commissions.  I always work hard (I do have my lazy days) and I always earn a good living.  The longer I build my business, the more I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My goal is to have 25 Agents selling 24 homes or more per year.  It won’t happen this year, but I believe by next year we will be there.  I started just 8 years ago without knowing one person in this area and no experience in Real Estate.  If I can do it, so can you.  Just be smart and work!