Renegade Millionaire Blog

Have you ever been to a Trader Joe’s store? You owe it yourself to get to one, and not just for the grocery chain’s foods.

For the business lesson.

Maybe you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near your house. There are, after all, less than 350 stores in only about half the U.S. states, part of the company’s plan of exclusivity. If you haven’t been to one, let me borrow from a fantastic recent Fortune article to explain the experience:

“It’s an offbeat, fun discovery zone that elevates food shopping from a chore to a cultural experience. It stocks its shelves with a winning combination of low-cost, yuppie-friendly staples (cage-free eggs and organic blue agave sweetener) and exotic, affordable luxuries — Belgian butter waffle cookies or Thai lime-and-chili cashews — that you simply can’t find anyplace else.

“Employees dress in goofy trademark Hawaiian shirts, hand stickers out to your squirming kids, and cheerfully refund your money if you’re unhappy with a purchase — no questions asked. At the Chelsea store opening, workers greeted customers with high-fives and free cookies. Try getting that kind of love at the Piggly Wiggly.”

You can also subscribe to a Trader Joe’s newsletter, which is almost as quirky and unique as the in-store shopping experience. Whether it’s in person or via newsletter, your experience with Trader Joe’s will be completely absent of at least one thing: The Curse of Sameness.

The Curse of Sameness is a marketing phenomenon that dooms many businesses. Grocery stores a great example. There are thousands of them across this continent. Yet aside from the rare cases, such as Trader Joe’s, how do any of them differentiate themselves from any other ones?

Do you know many grocery stores that do things much different than any other? You probably don’t. They all market the same way – weekly sales flyers, mostly – and carry the same kinds of products. They tout their huge selection, their low prices or their outstanding service, or blah, blah, blah.

They all seem to want to blend in rather than stand out. They doom themselves to the Curse of Sameness.

The real estate industry is almost exactly the same. It’s not entirely our fault; we don’t learn much about effective marketing as we plow through the material we need to get our licenses. We learn by watching what everyone else is doing, then doing that. “It’s worked for years,” we tell ourselves. “Why change?”

So we pay for expensive print ads in homebuyer magazines to showcase our listings, which, not accidentally, are written just like everyone else’s listings. “This lovely, 3BR, 1.5BA home … etc.” We take the same ads that are written like everyone else’s and also put them online, on listing sites that – you guessed it – look like everybody else’s.

We send out postcards with lame slogans and our smiling picture, both to possible buyer leads and to farm an area where we just had a listing or found a buyer for somebody else’s listing. We concern ourselves with getting “Pending” and “Sold” added to the yard sign of the contract we just got signed.

Agents do what they see every other agent doing. Just like the grocery stores that simply do what every other grocery store is doing. In this day and age of real estate, however, the Curse of Sameness is particularly diabolical.

You want proof? At the end of 2006, there were 1,357,732 Realtors in the National Association of Realtors membership. At the end of July this year, there were 1,088,703. That’s almost 270,000 agents who have dropped out of the game in three-and-a-half years.

You can blame the market for their plight, but you can bet that most of those more than quarter million people didn’t leave the business because they were standing out from their competition.

The big question is, if people’s real estate businesses are dropping like flies, why is it that so many agents are STILL copying what they did?

In today’s market, those who stand out – the Trader Joe’s of our industry – are the ones who thrive. Not long ago, I wrote a great blog post about agents copying tactics that have been successful in other industries.

In the blog post, it specifically mentions Internet marketers. If you think about it, there were successful Internet marketers well before real estate agents recognized the importance of online marketing (we were late to that game, too). Yet, what most agents have done is simply copy the good old model that’s always been used in print and attempt to transfer it online. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take what we’ve already seen working online and adapt that to our real estate businesses, rather than the other way around?

The reason most agents can’t see the benefit in this is because of that stupid curse. The sooner you recognize it, the better off you are. To succeed in the game nowadays, you must rid yourself of the Curse of Sameness.

Stand out. Be different. Don’t blend in.

Maybe even try a Hawaiin shirt.

There’s an extensive report that shows how real estate agents can differentiate themselves from their competition with one simple lesson. To get a copy of this report for free, visit www.FreeFarmerReport.com.

Several years ago, we took a vacation to Lake Norman, North Carolina. We rented a nice house on the lake. My oldest daughter had asked if we could go fishing on the lake. I hadn’t fished since I was a kid. Too busy working . I did what any other guy (sissy guy) would do; I looked to hire someone to take us fishing. A real guy would have figured it out by himself. Not me. I’m no Bear Griles.

I went online and searched for fishing charter in Lake Norman. Here is what I found in Google:

Notice the top two websites listed out of 233,000 different possible websites. They both direct visitors to Captain Gus’s website. Capt. Gus is mentioned in the title line of both websites. I also searched “fishing Lake Norman” and guess what? His website was the first website listed in the organic search listing. This simply means he gets tons of free traffic to his website. I would venture to guess that he gets over 50% of the traffic for Lake Norman fishing related searches. He probably got the top spots from numerous incoming links to his website.

Below, I have included a snapshot of Captain Gus’s home page. Notice all of the different pages or links on his website. If you have any interest in fish or fishing at Lake Norman, you’ll more than likely end up at Gus’s website. You can find information on just about anything within one or two clicks. Oh, don’t miss his book, which he sells for $8.95. His book is really just a compilation of fishing stories. I haven’t read the book, but I’ll bet they are funny and entertaining. Each one is also probably an indirect testimonial for his charter fishing business.

After visiting Gus’s website, I remembered reading about him in the local Lake Norman weekly newspaper. I had subscribed to this paper and had it mailed to me in Ohio. I wanted to learn as much about the Lake Norman area, because we were thinking of moving to the area.  So I went and checked a few of the Lake Norman Times weekly newspapers and sure enough, there was an article from Captain Gus each week. Here is a copy of one of his articles from the “Lake Norman Times” newspaper:

This article is a masterpiece in marketing. Remember, this is an article, not an advertisement. I don’t know if he pays for this or not. If I had to guess, I would bet that these articles are free for him. This small newspaper needs content and I’m sure they are happy to receive articles from Gus. Let’s study Gus’s article in the weekly paper:

1. Headline is around “safe boating.” This is a big deal on the lake because of boating related injuries during the busy summer months. The headline is sure to draw in readers who own a boat.

2. The article includes Gus’s picture with the phrase “Fishin’ with Gus.”

3. He includes 13 short pointers for boating safety.

4. A section titled “Tips from Gus”

5. The “Upcoming Events” title promotes a free fishing seminar he will be hosting at Gander Mountain.

6. He includes “Hot Spots” of the week so you can find where the fish are biting.

7. Last but certainly not least, there is a large picture of a father and son holding a big fish they caught with Captain Gus. Simply awesome!

This article has everything you could possibly want. He is positioned as the fishing expert for the area. A happy client picture proving that he can help you catch fish and have a great time. The hot spots of the week is designed to get you reading his article each week to see where the fish are biting. And finally, he markets an upcoming free fishing class that he will be teaching.

It truly is a marketing masterpiece and should be copied by anyone looking to grow their business. (THIS MEANS YOU!) This newspaper article follows a similar format from week to week, which means he has a template for writing articles. You should have a template for your newsletters or marketing emails.

I ended up calling Gus and hiring him to take us fishing. It was November and the weather was terrible. We had to buy warm clothes for our little fishing day. Gus picked us up on his boat at the dock of our rented house. He had everything we would need, fishing rods, bait, snacks and beverages. We spent a few hours on the lake with about 8 fishing lines in the water without catching a fish. My daughter was getting bored, so we started to head back.

Gus wasn’t happy about leaving without a fish. I could tell that he has a personal rule when fishing with customers. The trip doesn’t end until you catch a fish. Low and behold, we tried a new area and we caught a fish. Our little journey was complete.

During this time, I had the opportunity to talk with Gus. He had some great stories. I learned a great deal. As it turns out, he was a retired corporate guy who enjoyed fishing. He started a fishing charter on the side and it had grown each and every year. I wonder why?

He even had a few different fishing crews. If he was personally booked for a day, he had other people lined up to take you out for the day. His little business was setup to deliver income even if he didn’t work.

During this fishing trip, I learned that Gus was part of the Safety Commission for Lake Norman. He was concerned about signs on the Lake. These signs get damaged and/or disappear from weather or vandalism causing safety issues on the lake. He talked about meetings with the mayor and city council and he knew everything going on around the Lake. In simple terms, he was connected which I bet is extremely helpful for his little fishing business. Our trip ended and we headed back home. I often thought about Gus and how he turned his hobby into a lucrative business in retirement.

Since this first vacation to Lake Norman, we’ve been back several times. On our second trip, we rented our own boat and I had planned to take on the lake without Gus’s help. Our first stop was to Gander Mountain to get our fishing licenses. We also needed bait and some fishing equipment. Remember, I’m a sissy man so I don’t have any of this stuff myself. As we walked into Gander Mountain, I noticed a large sign offering a free fishing class. Guess who was teaching this class?

Captain Gus.

We then got everything we needed and we headed to the checkout line to pay. At the register, I noticed a stack of business cards offering fishing charters.Whose cards do you think I found?

One of the items we purchased at Gander Mountain was a detailed fishing map of Lake Norman. I have scanned part of the map in for you to review. See if you
can find Gus? Hint he is next to Waldo…

Well, did you find Gus? I did. I have reviewed this map thoroughly and didn’t see any other advertisements. His advertisement was the only one. It doesn’t even look like and advertisement, does it?
So, what can we learn from Gus? A lot:

1. Be everywhere your prospective clients are. Gus’s marketing is everywhere someone thinking about fishing would go. If you go fishing in Lake Norman, you’ll hear about Captain Gus one way or another. Do you have the same name recognition Gus does? Will someone thinking of buying, selling or investing in real estate in your area see your marketing? They should.

2. Get connected. Get involved with city council or other community related activities. When Gus told me about his involvement with the Safety Commission, he obtained instant credibility. He knew things other fishermen wouldn’t know about the lake. You should know things about your area that other real estate agents don’t know.

3. His website included information that other websites would link to. His website includes food recipes, weather related information, funny stories, online shopping, pictures and more. His website is the center of fishing in Lake Norman. This attracts many incoming links which help him obtain high search engine ranking.

4. Because he is connected in the community, he was able to get a weekly fishing column in the local newspaper. His weekly column is a masterpiece in marketing. Consider submitting 3 or 4 articles including any photos to your local newspaper. Tell them that they can run these articles whenever they want. Profile your clients in each article and tell their stories. Let them know that you would be happy to provide a weekly column for free. If you’re articles are good, who knows what might happen.

5. He uses pictures of happy clients in everything he does. Keep a camera with you and collect as many photos as you possibly can. These photos can be used in many ways: website, newspaper column, marketing funnel, free classes.

6. Host free classes. Market these free classes in your weekly newspaper column. If you can’t get a free column, consider copying Gus’s article and paying to have it run as an editorial each week/month.

7. Get local businesses to market your free classes. Gander Mountain benefits from Gus in several ways. The first way is that Gus promotes Gander Mountain in his weekly newspaper article. It is the location of his free classes. They receive direct plug each week in his article. He also promotes Gander Mountain on his website. Go back and look at his website above. See the Gander Mountain logo on the top left-hand side? Gander Mountain can promote Gus’s classes to all of their customers giving value added services. Finally, anyone attending one of Gus’s classes has to walk through their store. They get free foot traffic through the store every time Gus teaches a class. It is a win/win business relationship.

8. Look for areas to advertise where you won’t have any competitors. Gus advertises on the Lake Norman fishing map. Where do buyers, sellers and investors look for real estate information in your area? How can you advertise in these places? Be creative. Think outside of the box.

Bottom line: Gus is one smart business man. He knows more about fishing for customers than most business people do. On the surface, most people think Gus is a fisherman. In reality, he is a marketer.

A few years ago, my mentor Dan Kennedy wrote a  book titled “Ultimate Success Secret“, where he answered this question:

Is there one, single secret to success of such overriding importance that,
if concentrated upon exclusively, will literally change a person’s entire life experience
and results? If so, what is it?

The answer is pretty powerful and just may change your life. You can download Dan’s 97-page book right now for FREE at this link:

Ultimate Success Secret-PDF

Please note that the book was formatted for smaller pages, not for digital delivery. I haven’t changed the formatting and have kept the book intact as published.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

Have you heard this investing strategy?

“Put all of your eggs in one basket and then keep your eyes on the damn basket”

Well, I put most of my eggs in one basket and have a big mess of broken eggs right now. Here’s what happened…

1. I sold my real estate business with financing. This means one of my assets is a note receivable, which is dependent on the real estate market.
2. Minton Publishing provides products and services to real estate agents, who are dependent on the real estate market.
3. I own numerous real estate investments, including apartment buildings, single-family homes and commercial properties. All of these investments have lost a significant amount of value.

The real estate market crash has had a major impact on my net worth because almost everything I had surrounded real estate. I worked my ass off to build my net worth and have watched the majority of it disappear within the last 20 months. All of my eggs were in one basket and I couldn’t protect the damn basket.

My mindset was to invest into assets that I understood. I lived real estate, just like you do, so it seemed to make sense to focus my investments in real estate. Hell, we know property values; rent rates, demand, financing and can spot great deals. We would be stupid not to take advantage of this, right?

Wrong – at least in my case.

This recession and market crash have provided another major lesson and that lesson is to diversify our investments outside of real estate. All of my major assets have suffered significantly because I didn’t diversify. Please don’t make this same mistake yourself.

As the real estate market rebounds, set a goal to invest 10% of every penny you make into something outside of real estate. It’s more important for you to invest outside of real estate, because your day-to-day income comes from real estate. If your income comes from real estate and the majority of your money is invested into real estate, you’re going to have a problem or two. This may not sound exciting, but I can assure you it’s the safest thing you can do. You might be wondering where you should invest this 10%?

I suggest checking out the Permanent Portfolio outlined in a great little book titled “Fail-Safe Investing – Lifelong Financial Security in 30-minutes a Year” by Harry Browne.

In Harry’s book, he recommends a simple portfolio designed to protect you from financial loss and based on all of my experiences investing, I believe this is the best strategy. Up until now, my investment objective was to maximize my return. Not any more. My objective today is simply to preserve.

Greed is definitely not good.

Harry recommends dividing your investment savings into 4 different categories:

• 25% in U.S. stocks, to provide a strong return during times of prosperity. For this portion of the portfolio, Browne recommends a basic S&P 500 index fund such as VFINX or FSKMX.
• 25% in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, which do well during prosperity and during deflation (but which do poorly during other economic cycles).
• 25% in cash in order to hedge against periods of “tight money” or recession. In this case, “cash” means a money-market fund. (Note that our current recession is abnormal because money actually isn’t tight — interest rates are very low.)
• 25% in precious metals (gold, specifically) in order to provide protection during periods of inflation. Browne recommends gold bullion coins.

He refers to this approach as the Permanent Portfolio because it’s designed to protect you against ANY “ugly” economic cycle. In fact, here’s a quote from his book:

“The portfolio’s safety is assured by the contrasting qualities of the four investments — which ensure that any event that damages one investment should be good for one or more of the others. And no investment, even at its worst, can devastate the portfolio — no matter what surprises lurk around the corner — because no investment has more than 25% of your capital.”

If this approach appeals to you, I suggest Goggling “Permanent Portfolio.” You’ll probably be surprised at what you find. As an example, in 2008, one of the worst years in history, the Permanent Portfolio returned 1.97%. Compare this slight gain in 2008 to  the 37% loss in the S&P 500, the 36% loss in the Total Stock Market Index Fund, the 41% loss in Real Estate Investment Trust and the 18% loss in High Yield Bonds.

The Permanent Portfolio’s results for 2008 are actually very impressive considering the large losses in almost every traditional investment class. You can find several other studies of this approach for longer periods of time online, and I promise you’ll be happy with the results.

Browne’s book was written in 1999, and I wish I had read it then instead of now. Had I invested all of the money I put into real estate into creating my own Permanent Portfolio, I would have a hell of a lot more money. I also wouldn’t have to worry about the economy, value of the dollar, national deficit or the real estate market for that matter.

In his book, Browne specifically recommends that you don’t invest into anything in which you can lose more than you’ve invested in cash. For real estate investments, this means you shouldn’t invest unless you obtain a non-recourse loan or pay cash for properties.

Years ago, I learned there were two kinds of debt: good debt and bad debt.  Good debt was debt incurred to buy an asset that pays you every month. Bad debt was incurred to buy consumer-related items like clothes, furniture, cars and vacations.

I’ve lived below my means for many years and have invested a great deal of money into real estate using what I believed was “good” debt to compound my returns and have watched every penny of equity disappear. This has taught me that all debt is bad. There ain’t no such thing as “good” debt. Debt creates obligation and you cannot have financial freedom with obligation. Sure, it can help you make more money in prosperous times, but it can and will take you down in bad times.

What have you learned about investing, real estate and debt from this recession? Please share your lessons in the comments to this post!

Photo by lovelypetal

Back February, I had a meeting with my accountant and my bookkeeper to discuss the various tax returns we had to file for 2009. My accountant started asking some questions about one of my businesses. The finances for this business were handled by one of my long-term employees who left in 2009. My bookkeeper wasn’t able to answer my accountant’s questions because various bank account statements were missing.

We looked everywhere for these bank statements, but couldn’t find them. Finally, we requested the missing statements from the bank and paid to have them pulled from archives.

The statements received from the bank showed several online transfers into my employee’s personal bank account. All totaled, these transfers were in excess of $57,000.

I was obviously alarmed by this and sent my former employee an email asking why there would be over $57,000 transferred into their personal account. The response I received indicated that they weren’t able to transfer the money into the business’s savings account because it wasn’t available online. The employee indicated they transferred the money into their account and then moved it into the businesses savings account.

Makes perfect sense, right?

Needless to say, the savings account statements were missing, too. So to speed up the process, I asked this person to show me the money being transferred from their account back into the business’s savings account. A day or two later, I received copies of this person’s bank statements showing online transfers from their account into the businesses saving’s account. Thank god!

To be safe, I decided to request all of the missing saving’s account statements from the bank just to make sure everything matched up. When I finally received these statements, I couldn’t find corresponding deposits. I took all of the statements to the bank to get to the bottom of this once and for all. Believe it or not, my former employee sent me factitious statements of their account showing fake transfers into the business’s savings account. The money was never returned.

This person stole over $57,000 and then tried to cover it up. The hardest part of this is the betrayal. My wife and I felt sorry for this person and included them in holiday dinners. We sent this person on vacations at our expense. We even paid for a dinner reception after their father’s funeral.

This person was stealing money from us the entire time.

This person was recently charged with grand theft, which is a 4th degree felony and will probably do time. I share all of this with you because I’m hoping to prevent something like this from happening to you. I made a few costly mistakes, which allowed all of this to happen. Here they are:

STUPID MISTAKE #1: This employee had check signing privileges and access to the business’s online bank account.

It was very easy for this person to transfer money out of the account. For every other business I own, I’ve personally signed all of the checks. This was the one business where I delegated check signing. Never, ever delegate check signing. This includes delegating to partners and/or employees. You should sign every check personally. I know it’s not convenient. However, it’s vitally important if you’d like to keep your money!

STUPID MISTAKE #2: The bank statements for this business were mailed to the office.

As you know, I work mostly from home. This employee was the first one to get the bank statements. In fact, I never even saw them. Even worse, I didn’t have access to the business’s bank account online. I had no idea what checks were written or what money was transferred out. I completely trusted this person. Shame on me.

Believe it or not, all of the other bank statements for every other business I own, are mailed directly to my home. I’m the first person to open them and can see everything flowing through the account. You should be the first one to receive and open your bank statements. If they go to a partner or employee, you’ve opened up the opportunity for theft. Simply change the mailing address for all of your bank accounts and have them sent where you’re the first person to open them.

STUPID MISTAKE #3: Make sure all incoming money comes directly to you.

In my various businesses, money was sent to my office. This includes my rental properties, too. Tenants would mail their rent to my office or would drop it off in person. And in many cases, tenants paid their rent in cash. My employees had access to this money and could redirect it into their own accounts. Today, I have a P.O. Box and I’m the only one with a key. All incoming rents, checks and other payments are now sent to this P.O. Box and I’ve eliminated the possibility of theft.

STUPID MISTAKE #4: I felt sorry for this employee.

Every single time I’ve felt sorry for someone, I’ve been burned. This has happened with tenants in my rental properties and it has now happened in business with one of my longest, most trusted employees.

I realize this sounds terrible, but you cannot allow yourself to feel sorry for an employee, a business partner, or anyone else you do business with. You have to take emotion out of your business decisions. If you want to help other people, do so outside of your business.

Please understand that what I’ve shared with you applies to business partnerships, rental properties and your employees. Anytime your money is accessible by someone else, you have to pay attention and you have to exert control over key areas.

I’m not suggesting that you handle the bookkeeping for your business. Paying bills, preparing financial statements and balancing your checkbook is not a good use of your time. You should definitely higher a competent bookkeeper to handle these activities for you. However, you should still manually sign every check. You should have the banks statements sent directly to you. You should also remove access to all incoming checks or payments. My bookkeeper didn’t handle this one business. My employee did. I broke my own rules and suffered a significant financial loss.

Don’t read this article and think this can’t happen to you. It can and will, if you don’t set things up properly.

Please feel free to share any other theft prevention ideas in the comments to this article! Or if you’ve had something similar happen to you, tell your story and hopefully others can learn from what happened to you!

This post is a follow up to The Book That Changed My Life.

In my previous post, I shared how I learned to obtain expert positioning with my prospects and clients. This change in positioning had a dramatic impact on my business. Included were several ideas on how you can obtain expert positioning in your business. One of the strategies detailed was to become a writer.

The obvious problem for real estate agents is – who has time to write?

It’s definitely a challenge to make time to write on a consistent basis. I struggle with it every day. However, there is a little secret you can use to quickly obtain expert positioning. And this secret is to buy “Private Label Rights” to other writer’s content. “Private Label Rights” (PLR) give you the ability to have immediate access to done-for-you content, which you can use as-is or modify for your business.

Believe it or not, you can buy license rights to books, reports, information products and more. Many times, these license rights give you the opportunity to present the content as your own. You can simply add your name and use it in your business. An example of this strategy can be found in my Ultimate Foreclosure Boom program. One of the bonuses included license rights to a Foreclosure Secrets book. Simply add your name and bingo – your the author of your own book.

Instant Expert Positioning

When some agents hear this strategy, they say things like, “This isn’t ethical. How can I put my name on your  book and say I wrote it?” However, when you stop and think about it, you’ll see that it happens every single day. Ever hear of a ghost writer? Many of the books written by celebrities or prominent CEOs of large companies were written by other people.

You can do the same and create instant expert positioning in your business.

I recently wrote an 10-page report for real estate investors and I’ve decided to offer “Private Label Rights” on this report as a marketing test. This simply means, you’ll be able add your name and contact information to the report and use it as if you wrote it yourself. You can use it as-is, or you can modify as you wish. This report with “PLR” is only $27.

This report was written to create instant expert positioning for you. More importantly, I’ve built-in two lead conversion tools for you.

The first lead conversion tool is to get the person reading this report to sign-up for your investment property buyer’s list. When you come across a great investment property, simply send an email to the investors on the list and you’ll set yourself up to sell investment properties at-will. The second lead conversion tool is to get the person reading the report to “apply” to become one of your investor clients. I’ve even included a client application for you!

You can decide with lead conversion tool to use! You’ll receive this special report in Word format, so you’ll be able to customize it for your business!

In addition to the report and “Private Label Rights”, I’ve included a little guide detailing how you can use this report in your business. Because this is a marketing test, I’m  only going to sell 50 copies of this new “Investor PLR Report.” If you’d like to get one of the 50 copies for just $27, click on this link:

“Private Label Rights” Investor Report – (Instant Expert Positioning & Automatic Lead Conversion)

Even if you don’t order my new “Investor PLR Report” or you’ve read this post after all 50 copies have sold, you should still consider using other PLR content in your business. It’s an easy way to leverage your time and create instant expert positioning.

Before the release of the Kindle, my favorite thing to do was to hang out at book stores. I’d grab a coffee and browse through all of the books. I’d grab a few and find a comfy chair, so that I could skim through them. Ultimately, I’d end up buying one or two. I love to read and have read hundreds of books. Now I’m able to do this from the comfort of my home – gotta love technology.

In 2004, I stumbled across a book that literally changed my business. ONE book, which you can buy for under $8.00. Books really can turn into money in your bank account.

The book I’m referring to is Dan Kennedy’s “No B.S. Sales Success – The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners & Make Tons of Money Guide.” If you haven’t read it, I strongly suggest you pony up the $8.00 and buy it. It could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to you, if not more.

I learned two very powerful lessons that I applied to my business with dramatic results. I’ll share one of these lessons with you today and another in a future blog post. The first lesson was that we should focus on:

Positioning NOT Prospecting

Dan writes, “… most of the salespeople I’ve encountered simply hate prospecting. Consequently , they avoid it, both consciously and unconsciously, and do it only when the dire necessity of imminent starvation pushes them to it. And then they do it poorly…. To me, prospecting is grubby, unpleasant work. To me, there’s no worse way to spend time than talking to people who are not interested, are not qualified to say yes even if they were interested, and who view me as someone they have to defend themselves against.”

Since this is true, the worst thing you can do is to be viewed as a salesperson by your prospects and clients. When you’re viewed as a salesperson, everyone avoids you. It’s kind of hard to sell someone a home or get a listing, when they are intentionally avoiding you.

Instead, you need to try and change your positioning so the prospect views you as an expert. And no, you can’t change this positioning by adding “consultant” to your business card. It’s a lot bigger than what you call yourself. It starts with the very first thing a prospect sees, which is your marketing. It flows through to your website, how your phone is answered and what is said during every phone call and how you handle every prospect and client. You have to change everything and you cannot copy other agents in your area. They have horrible positioning, too.

To do get a feel for what’s necessary, consider a brain surgeon. This person is definitely an expert, right?

- Can you pick up the phone and directly call the brain surgeon?
- Can you stop in his or her office anytime and sit down and talk with them?
- Does the brain surgeon accommodate your schedule or do you accommodate their schedule?
- Does the brain surgeon command your respect?
- If the brain surgeon calls you, do you jump to answer the phone?

Can you “see” the difference between how an expert operates and how we operate? Okay, let’s talk about how you change your positioning.

1. Writing

According to Dan, “Writing and being published is a powerful way of helping others discover you. I’ve written many articles, for free, for all sorts of publications, and I work hard at having books I’ve written available in bookstores. Why? Because people read these articles or books, reach the conclusion that I’m an expert who can help them, and then seek me out… How does that apply to you? Let’s say your a car salesperson. You can write an article or regular column for your community newspaper about the inside secrets of buying, trading in, selling, and financing automobiles. You can write about the tax benefits of buying versus leasing and vice versa, what to look for when buying a used car, how to sell your own car, and so on….You could also write a book. How about “Confessions of a Car Salesman: How to REALLY Get the Best Deal.”

After reading this, I wrote my own book and it had a dramatic impact on how I was viewed by prospects. I also have numerous articles published in various magazines, websites and newsletters. The reason why is because I want prospects finding me through something I’ve written. This is because I’m viewed as an expert – right from the start. If you’re reading this right now, you more than likely “see” me as an expert.

2. Public Speaking

When you go to a class or seminar, do you view the presenter as an expert? What do you think would happen if you taught a class or seminar? Case closed.

3. Publicity

One of my Master Marketer club members was recently featured on the cover of his local newspaper. He used the tools provided in my Ultimate Foreclosure Boom program and is now viewed as an expert, simply from this one newspaper article. He can now leverage this article in many ways to get more clients going forward. Dan wrote, “Publicity can change your entire life experience as a sales professional. When somebody writes an article about you and it is published in a newspaper or magazine, or when you appear as a guest on a radio or TV show, you gain credibility and celebrity.”

You might be the best real estate agent in your area, but if you’re perceived as a salesperson, prospects won’t pay any attention to you. Once you have expert positioning, prospects seek you out. They look forward to your call. They try and rearrange their schedules to meet with you.

I’ll finish this post with the most powerful excerpt from Dan’s book:

“By now you may be wondering how to apply some of these ideas to your own business. These ideas are transferable, nearly universal strategies that anyone can use. Suppose, for example, you run a home security systems business.

Easy. Write a book: Burglars’ Seven Secrets for Picking the Houses and Families They Attack. Write a column for your community newspaper: “Crimestopper Tips.”

You’ll find that…the book and newspaper column will generate business. But you can also use your book to get into some radio or TV talk shows…. Next you could target an appropriate geographic area and start sending a quality newsletter to all the homeowners. Call it “Smart Strategies for Safe Living: How to Safegaurd Your Family and Your Home.” Provide useful information and tips. Offer your book for free.

When prospects start to call you from your book, articles or newsletters, with questions, simply say: “Mr Homeowner, I’m extremely busy and cannot do justice to your questions today. However, I have a complete information kit that I’ll send to you, and I ask that you review it carefully. Then if you think I’m the right expert to assist you with your home security, call me back. If you choose another source, the information will still help you.”

Then I would have a messenger deliver a nice, big box to Mr. Homeowner. Inside the box would be my information kit, which would include the following:

1. A copy of my new book on home security.
2. A CD of a recent interview where you answer questions.
3. A couple of copies of my newsletter.
4. A page of testimonials
5. A page titled: “All Sources of Security Assistance are NOT Equal,” which lists your “creditability items” and statistics.
6. Copies of any newspaper stories, articles about you.
7. Finally, and this is very important, I would include a certificate waiving my usual $250 fee for a home and family protection consultation.

Now when Mr. Homeowner calls me, what will the positioning be like? Will he perceive me as “just another salesperson?” Not likely.”

This chapter changed my life. I realized that I was viewed as a salesperson and how much this was costing me in lost sales. I went to work implementing everything Dan suggested and slowly, but surely changed my positioning to “expert.” I wrote my own book. I had a friend interview me asking powerful questions that would allow me to display my expertise. I recorded this interview and used it as a CD in my information package. I went and drafted testimonials for my past clients and got their permission to use them in my marketing. I wrote an article explaining why all real estate agents weren’t equal. I also included a certificate waiving my usual $250 retainer. I created my own information kit and began sending it to prospects contacting my office.

My business tripled. Yes, it was a lot of work, but it was worth it because I no longer had to prospect. I no longer had to be available 24/7. I no longer had to work with every pain-in-the-ass prospect, because I needed the sale. The same will happen to you, once you’re viewed as an expert, instead of a salesperson.

What book or books have changed your business? Please share them in the comments!

I’m about to turn 40 and I can still remember this commercial on TV when I was in high school:

Time to make the doughnuts!

One of the most challenging parts of our business is that we have to constantly sell more homes to get paid. I’ve often felt like the doughnut guy in this commercial. I’m sure you have too! It’s a never ending cycle and it can wear you down. Almost as if you’re stuck on a treadmill and can’t get off.

Several years ago, I spent an entire day at Panera Bread thinking about my real estate business. I left my cell phone in the car and completely shut myself off from the outside world. I made a list of other professions and which ones seemed to be the most profitable. Believe it or not, an author gravitated to the top of my list. The reason why an author was at the top of my list was because the author writes one book and gets paid over-and-over again. In other words, they make doughnuts one time and get to sell them multiple times. As an example, Napoleon Hill’s estate is still receiving income from his legendary book “Think & Grow Rich.” He died in 1970.

Will your family receive income 40 years from now from the home you sell today?

Not likely.

After thinking through all of this at Panera Bread, I made the decision to change my entire business. I wanted to focus on opportunities that provided recurring income. I didn’t want to have to work forever like the doughnut guy. I wanted to engineer my life so I could work when I wanted to work and play when I wanted to play. I wanted to have the lifestyle of John Grisham, one of my favorite authors. He writes books because he wants to, not because he has to.

From that day forward, I vowed to only focus on opportunities which provided recurring revenue. And thankfully, I’ve followed through with this decision. I’ll be honest – it wasn’t easy. Everyone said I was crazy. My agents didn’t agree. It didn’t matter what anyone else said. I stuck to my guns and transformed my business.

I think there is a BIG opportunity for agents to engineer attractive recurring revenue in their businesses. I’ve detailed this opportunity in a new 11-page report you can download right now at this link:

Listing Income-PDF

In this report, I share how you can create 3 new income streams from sellers. One of these income streams is recurring monthly revenue. I also share how I evaluate new ideas for my businesses. I think you’ll find this little exercise to be very helpful for your business, too!

In our businesses, we are dependent upon other people to get homes sold and closed. Every single sale involves many other people and one incompetent person can cost us a lot of money and a great deal of time.

How many times have you had to deal with another agent who doesn’t return your phone calls or doesn’t know what their doing?
How many deals have gone south because of an appraiser incorrectly valuing a home?
How many loans have been messed up because the lender was slow and didn’t get things completed in time?

It’s pretty hard to get paid when we have to deal with so many other people to get one home sold.

A few months ago, I participated in a special meeting with agents here in Cleveland. During the meeting, we were brainstorming different ideas we could implement. I’ve detailed some of the findings from this meeting and how I evaluated each opportunity in a new report, which you can download below. In the meeting, one of the agents shared how he helped a seller that couldn’t sell their home. He created a $3,000 fee and recurring income of $99 a month. More importantly, the seller was extremely happy and absolutely loves him.

It’s a very unique way to create income from sellers who can’t sell their homes. This is something you should definitely study and contemplate for your business.

In the report, you’ll also see how to eliminate dependency in your business and how to create recurring revenue.  You can download this report right now by clicking on this link:

Listing Income Report – PDF

I shared this report with my Master Marketer club members a few weeks ago and have received a ton of feedback. Download it while it’s still available!

This article is excerpted from my report titled “How Real Estate Agents Can Eliminate Negative Cash Flow in Their Businesses.”

The most profitable real estate business for the future will not look anything like the real estate business of the past. In fact, the real estate business of the future will focus entirely on cash flow. Here’s a snapshot of how this business will look:

1. Zero negative cash flow

2. No long-term contracts

3. Complete flexibility

4. Limited or no overhead

5. No debt

6. No salaried employees

7. Will reverse the cash flow on monthly expenses

8. Will focus on generating higher-quality free leads

9. Will use automatic lead-conversion systems

10. Will be engineered around your ideal lifestyle, not sales growth.

11. Simplicity will rule over complexity.

12. Will maintain significant amounts of cash in financial reserve.

I realize this may sound impossible. It definitely IS possible. Picture this for your business…

Every day, new high-quality leads are generated and automatically imported into your database management system. These new leads are put through an automatic marketing funnel whereby certain percentages are converted into clients. These new clients are pre-trained to operate according to your rules of engagement.

Each lead is followed up with on a weekly basis, using a content-oriented email newsletter delivered for free.

Your business doesn’t require physical office space other than your home office. Everything above happens online or remotely. Everything you need is at your fingertips, within your home office. This means you don’t have to drive to an office.

Your lead generation and conversion systems are designed in such a way that you have the luxury to reject a new client if they won’t work on your terms. This is because your business expenses are minimized, you won’t need to work with every client or prospect that touches your business. You’ll have the luxury to “cherry-pick” the best clients from your marketing system and work with these clients on your terms.

You have one or two good agents who you can give new clients to and feel comfortable that they’ll turn the clients into sales. These agents work remotely from their home offices and are paid commissions on the homes sold to your clients. They do not receive any salary or fixed payment from your business. They pay their own business expenses and must sell to earn income. The income your business receives from these home sales is used to build your financial reserves of your business.

Because this business is structured to minimize overhead and completely offset other business-related expenses, every commission check received from your personal home sales will be positive cash flow. Depending on your market and commission rate, you should be able to reach your cash flow goal with 2 or 3 home sales a month with zero negative cash flow. When you factor in the commissions received on homes sold by your buyer’s agents, you’ll enjoy your ideal lifestyle with virtually no risk and complete freedom.

NOTE: If you’d like to read more about how to eliminate negative cash flow in your business, visit http://www.zeronegativecashflow.com