8 Solutions to Keep 2009 from Going Down in Flames
First, thanks for reading. And responding. This blog would be nothing without you.
Second, thanks for your leadership. Your courage. Your honesty. Credibility. Tough love. Thanks for being a real estate agent who upholds the standard. Who excels at winning. And winning right. You inspire me.
Third, you’ve got a rough road ahead of you. But you don’t need me to point that out to you. I only want to give you solutions. My main motivation in writing this post is to give you an early Christmas present. An idea…a direction…that will hopefully guide you to success in 2009.
So, here’s a list of 8 solutions to your current economic, real estate woes. Hopefully these will keep you from pumping a ton of money into something that returns little to nothing. When you’re finished, let me know what you think.
1. Start from scratch.
Halt the progress, purge all your current baggage and re-evaluate what you are trying to accomplish. You need a clean slate for 2009.
Andy Grove said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.” You’ve got to get the fundamentals down. But once you do that…tackle new opportunities.
2. Think like a king.
You probably haven’t been doing enough of this lately. But you need to think like a king. Or queen. Someone who is in charge. Who’s sovereign. Someone who’s responsible for results. Someone who won’t let the vision go dormant or accumulate complicated layers. Who rolls heads when there’s trouble. [Go ahead. You can do it.]
3. Create a dedicated team passionate about real estate.
Your career is so important that you dedicate your life to it. You depend upon it. Your family depends upon it. Charities depend upon it. All of your resources should place it at the same high priority. Otherwise, you dish out a half-baked product.
4. Create a unique selling proposition (USP).
The book Made to Stick demonstrated that an idea spreads when it is simple, unexpected, credible, concrete, emotional or a story. Or a combination of all the above. Southwest Airlines “exists to provide the lowest airfare.”
Why do you exist? What makes your business better than the other ones out there? Let’s spell it out: USP.
5. Filter and test every idea through the USP.
Every idea you come across must live or die based on how it sizes up to your USP. R&D suggested Southwest offer chicken Caesar salads on the flight. The CEO asked, “Will that help us provide the lowest airfare?” The answer was no.
6. Define metrics.
What will determine success or failure: Sales? Houses sold? Listed? Buzz? Penetration? Recall? Website visits? All of the above?
7. Determine an economic engine.
Low maintenance ideas require little to no funding. High maintenance ideas require more funding. You need to decide if you want any idea to be a low or high maintenance idea…and then build strategies and creative to match the revenue required.
8. Meet a new person everyday.
Via social sites like Twitter or LinkedIn or flesh and blood events, get to know more people this year. At a minimum, make a goal to meet 365 new people in 2009.
Deep and wide relationships cultivates success. Especially if you get to a point in 2009 that you feel like you can’t make it, somebody will be there to lift you up.
Merry Christmas.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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