Book Recommendation…”Failure is Obsolete”

By Rob Minton · Comments (0) · Monday, March 4th, 2013

 

Hopefully if you’re reading this blog, you understand how important “testing” is in business. Well, I have a new book recommendation for you. The book is titled, “Failure is Obsolete – The Ultimate Strategy to Create Recurring Success in Your Business and in Your Life” and was written by Benji Rabhan who owns multiple businesses. This is a book you can download and read in a weekend, which is what I did.

The premise of the book is to TEST before making any significant decisions in your business. The author suggests that we should consider using this approach in all ares of our lives and I have to agree. From the book…

“Testing is all about gathering data involving actual behavior in the most low-risk, low-cost way possible. So you can pre-prove that your idea has legs without going through the time and expense of carrying out the entire idea to see if it’s successful.”

When you TEST before you make any significant changes, you can save yourself a great deal of time and a hell of a lot of money. A great real life example of why you should TEST before you make significant decisions might be JC Penny. I’m sure you’ve heard that JC Penny hired Ron Johnson from Apple and decided to completely change their marketing approach. Basically, they decided to eliminate all promotions and discounts. They quickly rolled these changes out to all of their stores with hopes to improve their revenues and market share.

Since this change, JC Penny has lost $4.3 billion in revenue when compared to the year prior to the change. They are now in the process of unwinding these changes and going back to their previous model of offering discounts, promotions and coupons. Had the experts at JC Penny invested $8.00 in this little book, they might have saved themselves from this significant loss. I’m not kidding. The reason why is because they could have designed a simple test to see how this new strategy worked before rolling it out to all of their stores. In other words, they could have pre-proved this approach BEFORE moving forward.

A few weeks ago, I was watching Shark Tank with my family. One entrepreneur pitched the Sharks on investing into his new Teddy Bear business. Apparently, he had spent $400,000 designing a Teddy Bear that you could record personal voice messages on remotely. The idea was traveling parents or family members could record personal messages for their children and grandchildren. The Sharks asked him what price he needed to sell the Teddy Bears at to make his projected profits. Thankfully, he knew this answer – $60 a bear! Their next question was…”How many Teddy Bears have you sold at this price point?”  His answer was 0. He had sold some Teddy Bears through Groupon at a discounted price, but none at their full retail price of $60. In other words, this guy invested $400,000 on this idea without having any idea if it would work. More than likely, this idea is not going to work and this poor fella is out big time.

Are you contemplating any significant changes in your business or personal life? If so, is there a way you can test these changes before moving forward? I’ll bet you can and you’ll see a few ideas in’ Benji’s book. I used one of the ideas in this book to test a new training program I was going to launch. In the past, I would have spent weeks creating all of the training materials. Once these materials were complete, I would then go to work marketing the new program hoping it would sell at a level to justify the time investment.

Instead, I marketed the training program on a limited basis as a simple test to see if it would sell first. This little test showed very quickly that the new training program would not sell at the level needed to move forward. My test pre-proved this idea was not a winner and I was able to cross the entire project off of my schedule. I saved well over 100 hours of my time, which is a significant savings.

In this book, you’ll see little ways to test just about everything. You can see how to test new marketing ideas, prospective new employees, web pages, lead generation advertisements, marketing funnels, and more. In fact, he even writes about why we should “test” renting a home before we buy it. You might consider “testing” a marketing campaign around this idea in your business!

Categories : Marketing, Sales, Succcess, Time Management

If You Started in Real Estate Today, What Niche Would You Go After?

By Rob Minton · Comments (0) · Thursday, January 17th, 2013

I recently had a consulting call with a new agent. During the call, the agent asked a pretty good question that I thought I would share. His question was…

“If You Started in Real Estate Today, What Niche Would You Go After?”

Apparently my answer was not what he expected. Here was my reply…

“Where is the money at in your housing market?”

 

I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist adding this video! Back to this new agent…

He didn’t have a great answer to this question. Selling real estate is just like any other business. You have to pay attention to the numbers. What homes are selling? Where is buyer demand? Where can you generate the most income with the least amount of work? These answers differ from market to market and change over time with the peaks and valleys of the real estate market.

Historically, investors have been a great niche to focus on for several reasons. Investors typically buy multiple properties providing recurring sales with no additional marketing. In addition, the investor niche opens up the doors for many back end business opportunities including tenant placement and property management.

However, today investment properties are pretty challenging to specialize in and the reason is because the commission income per sale is typically not worth the amount of time you have to invest to close a sale. Most of the homes in our area have dropped significantly in value and require a great deal of work to close. Sure, you can charge the investor a higher commission or flat fee, but if the deal doesn’t close you still lose out. And sadly, many of these investor deals are not closing for various reasons.

My entire “Less Clients More Money” System for real estate agents was engineered to make more money from each client. The idea is to design your business so that you maximize your income from every single client. Make more while working less.

As an example, if you were looking to become a waiter or waitress at a restaurant in your area, what would be a better choice for you: Denny’s or Morton’s Steakhouse? At Denny’s you’ll have more tables to service, but this higher volume is offset by lower tips. On the flip side, at Morton’s Steakhouse you’ll have fewer tables to service, but you would make a great deal more in tips from each table. It would make more sense to become the best waiter or waitress at a higher end restaurant, because you’ll make more with less work.

If I were starting out in today’s real estate market, I would specialize in higher priced homes. Home prices for larger homes are very attractive right now and interest rates are so low that these larger homes have become very affordable. In fact, I just wrote a new lead generation advertisement highlighting a beautiful 4 bedroom, three and a half bath home sitting on a golf course that could be purchased for $1,800 a month with just 5% down. This home isn’t my listing, but is being used as a lead generation tool for another agent. (My Master Marketer Club members will get this advertisement next week.)

From a marketing perspective this situation (low prices and low rates) gives us multiple opportunities for lead generation and lead conversion and I would focus my time and attention today on larger, higher priced homes. The reason why is because I believe it will be easier to generate and convert quality leads and you’ll make more money with less work.

I sent this new agent my Automatic Showings Report and System and suggested he use it to generate and convert higher priced home buyers in his business. The reason I sent this to him was because I included several lead generation and lead conversion systems for higher priced homes. If you would like to learn how to set buyer home showing appointments automatically, watch the video at: AutomaticShowings.com

Additional Reading:

How to Follow the Money In Your Real Estate Business

My Secret Market Domination Strategy (Can be used for any niche)

A Marketing Strategy We Can Learn from Boxing

Categories : Business Building, Marketing
Tags : , , , ,

My Own Prison…

By Rob Minton · Comments (0) · Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

Creed – My Own Prison
A court is in session, a verdict is in
No appeal on the docket today
Just my own sin
The walls are cold and pale
The cage made of steel
Screams fill the room
Alone I drop and kneel
Silence now the sound
My breath the only motion around
Demons cluttering around
My face showing no emotion
Shackled by my sentence
Expecting no return
Here there is no penance

For many years, I was diligent about protecting my cell phone number. However, over the last year or two, my cell phone number seemed to get loose and before long I was getting work related calls and texts constantly. I could be out to dinner with my family and in comes a text from a tenant about a plumbing problem. Buzz…buzz and another text comes in with another work related issue. I would hold off on responding to these issues, but began to realize I would think about the various issues buzzing in throughout our dinner. It became impossible to separate myself from work.

I was living in my own prison and there was no appeal on the docket.

In other words, my cell phone began to suck life away. I know the same is happening to you, too. Those of us in the real estate industry feel as if we need to be available for our clients 24/7. When we aren’t working (which is rare), we spend countless hours checking our phones for emails, texts and other messages. We are allowing our cell phones to slowly suck our lives away from us with each and every text, call, alert, or email. We create our own prison with no release date.

Our cell phones should be used for our convenience, not the convenience of everyone else. This means we should use our cell phones to enhance our lives, not distract our lives. If you would like to be released from your own prison, follow these steps and you’ll be free within a week.

1. Change Your Outgoing Voice Mail Greeting:

“Hi this is YOUR NAME and thank you for calling. I am no longer using this phone number and my new phone number is OFFICE PHONE NUMBER OR VOICE MAIL NUMBER. If you would still like to talk with me, please call me at this new phone number. If you leave a message on this phone number you just dialed, I will not get it and will not be able to return your phone call. Thank you for your understanding and I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Once again, my new phone number is OFFICE PHONE NUMBER OR VOICE MAIL NUMBER.”

2. Make Your Cell Phone Number Private:

Since our cell phones are for our convenience, it is important to block our number so that it cannot be captured by those we call. This way you can make out going calls and keep your number protected. If you need to call family or a friend, you can unblock your number and make the call. Or another option would be to simply let family and friends know that your calls will be blocked going forward. Yes, I know blocking and unblocking your phone number is a pain in the ass, but it is worth it for the peace you gain in the process.

3. Use Your Office Phone (not your cell phone) for the Majority of Out Going Calls:

I have a separate phone number in my home office with voice mail attached. I now use this phone for 99% of my out going phone calls. This phone number is not blocked so if someone calls me back, their calls automatically go to my office number, not my cell phone. This also will help you condense work to work hours because you’ll be returning calls from your office.

4. Remove Your Cell Phone Number From Business Cards & Marketing Materials:

Under no circumstances should you publish your cell phone on any marketing materials including business cards, flyers, advertisements, or for sale signs. You are trading your life away to every Tom, Dick or Harry who can interrupt you for any reason whatsoever. This is your life, not theirs. Protect it as if it were the most valuable asset you have, because it is. Use your office phone number on all promotional materials and return phone calls from your office.

5. Return Office Voice Mail Messages in a Timely Manner:

Now that we have all calls going to your office phone instead of your cell phone, return these calls in a timely manner. I try and return calls twice a day. Typically I return calls between 11 am and 12 noon and between 4 and 5 pm. This step is very important because if you don’t return their calls promptly, they will start calling your cell phone again. Train everyone that you will respond to calls to the new number. They will continue calling the number you respond from and it is critically important to respond to calls promptly from your office phone number.

6. Never Return a Call or Message Left On Your Cell Phone:
The first rule of fight club is… there is no fight club. The most important rule for exiting your own prison is… never return a call or message someone makes to your cell phone.

Just as with the step above, never ever return a phone call or message left on your cell phone. If you do, you will train the person that they can get to you through your cell phone. You have to ignore ALL incoming work phone calls and messages on your cell phone. This is not easy, but vitally important. If you break down and return a call to your cell phone, they will begin using your cell phone again and you’ll soon be in a prison of your own making.

7. Remove Work Email Accounts from Your Cell Phone

Save work emails for when you’re working. Delete your work email accounts from your phone. The reason I’m suggesting you delete the email accounts from your phone is because it is almost impossible to not check your email when you have an extra minute or two. I do not have the will power to not check it, so I have eliminated it completely. Checking work emails on your phone is a very slippery slope. I have a separate email account for friends, family, and newsletters that I enjoy reading. I do check this email on my phone, but it is free of work emails.

8. Stop Work Related Texts

Instead of sending work related texts, switch to sending emails when you’re working. This way when the recipient responds, they’ll be responding by email and there incoming email will not distract you from living. You’ll get their response the next time you work. When you receive a work related text, send a reply asking the person to use your work email address.

I just went through this process with my cell phone and within 7 days, I had peace back in my life again. I have walked away from my prison. The good news is you can walk away from your own prison, too.  It will take a week or two to train everyone to use your office number instead of your cell phone.

Now I realize most of you who read this will not follow these steps. You’ll falsely believe that you must be accessible 24/7. You will continue to let others control you life. However, a very small percentage of you will actually implement these simple steps. Those of you who decide to take your life back will soon have a great deal of peace back in your lives.

Related Articles:

The Dude Abides

How to Abide in Business

The Goal of Business

Categories : Succcess, Time Management
Tags : , , , , ,

How to Abide in Business

By Rob Minton · Comments (0) · Monday, December 10th, 2012

In my previous article titled, “The Dude Abides” I suggested we should all consider abiding like Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski. To “abide” means to slow down and take it easy. I realize this suggestion may differ from my previous writings and I thought I would share a little background on this topic for those of you who have an interest in abiding.

Several years ago, Tim Ferriss posted an article on his blog about using the philosophy of Stoicism as a guide for entrepreneurs. In his article, he shared the following quote from Seneca:

“There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing harder to learn.”

Well, when I read this post, I really didn’t fully grasp what Seneca meant when he put this idea to paper. At the time I initially read this quote, I was the busy man fighting to achieve my various business and wealth goals. The majority of books I read were business and marketing books. I worked 7 days a week and was proud of my work ethic. I honestly viewed myself as a work machine.

Tim’s post led me to reading “The Shortness of Life” by Seneca. One thing led to another and I began reading philosophy book after philosophy book. This was a major shift for me and I began to think differently about life. I have always felt we have one shot at life and it makes a great deal of sense to try and get it right. Who wants to face their last few hours with regret on how they invested their time?

One of the biggest ideas repeated through almost every single philosophy book is…

Wealth accumulation is not a worthwhile pursuit.

So I began to struggle with the ideas of philosophy and business, because they seemed to conflict. Every business book I studied focused on increasing revenues and profits. Every philosophy book I studied focused on how to live life well by changing how we think and to fight the urge to pursue money, material “doodads”, and wealth.

The big question that kept swirling around in my head was, “How do I build a business (or businesses) and use philosophy as a way of life?” Now I haven’t mastered what I’m about to share with you, but I think it may be helpful, so I’m going to share it anyhow. I honestly do not know if I will ever master these steps; however, I hope to improve more and more with each passing year. Seneca was definitely correct when he wrote…”there is nothing harder to learn.”

1. Change your goal(s).

For most of my career, I set very specific business goals. These goals included number of leads generated, number of leads converted to clients, number of sales, commissions earned and wealth acquired. Goals such as these are very important, if the focus is money and wealth. However, if the goal becomes living a good life, these goals may become problematic.

To eliminate these problems before they occur, consider shifting your goals to something more valuable – learning how to live.

Yes, we will still work and build our businesses, but $$$ will not be our focus. Instead our focus shifts to slowing down and enjoying life. It’s important to understand we enjoy life in our thoughts, not our bank accounts.

2. Slow Down.

I have always been a very impatient person. I do not like waiting for anything. For many years, I thought this helped me in business because I would simply make things happen instead of waiting for them to happen. The old “Money Follows Speed” thing. Well, I now finally understand there is NO DAMN URGENCY.  It is impossible to enjoy life when you’re going 100 miles an hour trying to do too many things at once. Slow down and understand everything will be okay. It really will. Take time to smell the roses. Take time to play tag with your kids. Take time to learn a musical instrument. (I am taking acoustic guitar lessons. They are very challenging!) Take time to read philosophy books. Take time to enjoy the people in your life. All relationships end in loss, so enjoy every second you have with the people you love.

Yes, continue to work to improve your business. However, understand there is no urgency. We create urgency by the importance we place on things. Eliminate or reduce the importance and the urgency disappears.

3. Stop Creating Drama in Every Area of Our Lives

We create drama when we make a BIG deal out of little things. We have a tendency to create a lot of drama in our lives and sometimes we don’t even realize we are the drama starters. I used to think others created all of the drama, but I now clearly see that I’m very good at it, too. Before doing something, take a second and ask yourself these questions…

- Is this really necessary?
- Will this call/email/text cause drama?
- Is this really a BIG deal, or can I simply let it go and let things happen as they will?

A great example I can remember from a Disney vacation occurred when I tried to get fast passes for my family for the new Toy Story ride. I had heard that fast passes go quickly, so I got up early and went to the park on my own. I took the park tickets for all of my family members and my plan was to get fast passes for everyone. Well, I entered the park and rushed the fast pass machine. I couldn’t get fast passes for my family and this was because they hadn’t scanned their park tickets at the gate. I went back to the gate and learned that I couldn’t scan their tickets without each person being with me. So I ended up not getting fast passes and wasting a ton of time in the process. I initiated this drama and suffered the consequences. The rest of my family slept in and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the resort. I didn’t because I decided to initiate this drama by turning the fast pass tickets into a BIG thing.

4. Learning Detachment

Over the years, I have allowed myself to get so wrapped up in the outcome of just about everything. This has caused a great deal of unnecessary stress and unhappiness. One of the ways to abide in business is to learn to detach yourself from what happens in your business. I realize this may sound crazy, but you’ll find a lot more happiness. As an example, let’s assume you have a listing appointment tomorrow. Try and detach yourself from the outcome of this appointment. If you get the listing, great. If you don’t get the listing, great. This way you cannot lose and you’ll hopefully avoid some disappointment if you walk away without the listing. This is the…“Fuck it, lets go bowling” mindset from The Big Lebowski movie.

If any of this has any meaning to you for your life, I would like to recommend one more book. The book is titled, “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” by William Irvine. It is probably the best book on how to live life well I have read over the last few years.

DISCLOSURE: The links in this article are not affiliate links.

Categories : Books, Business Re-invention, Goal Setting, Succcess, Time Management
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