Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

Two Saturdays ago, we finished up the Winter of Soul (a 12-session teleseminar program about topics of interest to the Sell with Soul crowd) with a show about Getting UNStuck* - that is - how to regain your mojo when this business threatens to take you down. My favorite segment of the show was when we talked about how if you're in a Bad Mood... you're pretty much toast until you can snap out of it.

What do I mean by that? Well, if you're feeling down in the dumps about your business, have you noticed that it only seems to get worse? You and your bad mood seem to attract more to be in a bad mood about. It's an ugly, frustrating, discouraging death spiral. BAH!

But the good news is that the opposite is also true. If you can somehow resuscitate your mood so that you're feeling chipper again, you and your good mood will attract even more to be in a good mood about!

And more good news, in our business at least, is that it really doesn't take all that much to turn our day, our week or even our month around. One or two sweet referrals. A great open house. A call from a buyer who found you from your blog. And BAM! You're feeling sexy, sassy and smart again. 

So what's my point here?  

My point is that a lot of us (myself included) get all hysterical when things are going wrong and think we have to make a Big Change in order to turn things around. And that Big Change is, well, Big! And maybe scary. Maybe expensive. So, we either do nothing (and sink further into despair) or we make some not-too-well-thought-out Big Change that may be unnecessary and probably won't work anyway.

Slow down. Don't make any Big Change decisions out of fear, frustration or desperation. Don't make any Big Change decisions until you're ... yes... in a good mood.

Does this sound ridiculously simple? Yeah, I know, it is. But think about it - how was your mood the last time you made a crummy decision? I don't know about you, but I can name a dozen really dumb moves I've made in the last few years, all of which were decided upon when I was under stress. Conversely, my best decisions were made when I was feeling sassy, sexy and smart!

So, how do you go about finding your good mood? What will it take to get YOU feeling sassy, sexy and smart?

I dunno.

It's different for everyone. I know what works for ME and if I can remember to do it when I'm feeling low, I can almost always turn my mood around. And once I'm feeling better, everything else seems to fall into place, which of course improves my mood even more!

Now, I'm not talking about some monumental shift in attitude. Just enough of a shift so that you can smile, laugh and be pleasant to those around you.

Just think about it. What TRULY cheers you up? Think outside the box - go beyond the obvious things like working out or eating chocolate. What REALLY works for you?

Share?

 

* Because the reviews of the Getting UNStuck show were so freakin' overwhelmingly positive, we're going to do a repeat of it for the public Saturday morning, April 10th.
Join us?
Here are the details

And fun was had by all (well, I had fun anyway) on Wednesday evening in the SWS Studio! My four esteemed guests, Lenn Harley, Robin Sherman, Karen Rice and Renee Burrows gathered around the virtual table and answered all your questions about how exactly they generate good business from the Internet. Okay, well, that's a lie - they didn't answer ALL your questions - not even close. Even though the show ran the full 90 minutes, I came away with five pages of listener questions we weren't able to get to.

If you missed the show... well... darnit. You can go HERE to see Renee Burrows' recap of the questions asked and how she answered them. Speaking of Renee, you can also go here to learn more about her online strategies, written of course, in her delightfully irreverent style (e.g. "Get Your Blog Freaky and To the Floor"). I plan to hang out there quite a bit today - maybe we'll run into each other.

Anyway, at the end of the show, I promised to post the unanswered questions to my blog and allow my guests (or anyone else who wants to contribute) the opportunity to respond.

So... here we go!

Tom asks: "Where do you find the Google webmaster?" (referenced by Lenn as THE SOURCE for all things Google)

http://www.google.com/webmasters/

Jenny & Anonymous ask: "How often should you write or post something to your blog?"

Donne asks: "Renee - what are your syndication sources?"

I believe they've connected on this offline, but the rest of us would love to hear, too!

Donne Knudsen comments: "I find that I spend a lot more time and energy converting internet leads compared to the time and energy it takes to convert a referred lead."

Great point! Would love others' thoughts on this. 

Jenny asks: "Do any of the speakers hire out their online lead generation work or do they do it all personally?"

Nathaniel asks: "Is internet marketing targeted towards brokers only or can real estate sales persons take advantage of marketing on the net without any conflict from the broker?"

Doug asks: "Can we see some examples of good real estate blogs?"

Here are the blogs of our speakers who blog, but please feel free to add to this list!

Renee Burrows: http://activerain.com/blogs/lasvegasrealestateforyou
Karen Rice: http://www.pikewaynepablog.com/
Lenn Harley: http://activerain.com/blogs/lennharley 
 

Phyllis asks: "Other than Active Rain, where do you post your blogs?"

Anonymous asks: "Based on the leads that come online and register - how long will you stay in contact with them - 1,2,3,4 months? .... Before they actually buy... at what point do you give up on someone?"

Ruthmarie asks: "Regarding pay-per-click, did using pay-per-click help you get your site/blog established? Or did the results go away once you stopped using it? In other words - can I use PPC to establish my site and then stop and continue to see results?"

We had a lot of questions about IDX and although we tried, I'm not sure we answered them satisfactorily for many in the audience. The main question was "What's the best IDX" or "What IDX do the speakers recommend?" Our answer was that it depends on your local MLS as to what IDX(s) is/are available to you, and whether or not your board even allows broker reciprocity. Some attendees commented that their broker don't allow individual agents to have an IDX on their websites. Any thoughts or comments on this?

On a related note, Vickie asks: "I'm an agent with the largest real estate brokerage in the metro Kansas City area. Every agent has a personal web page with IDX. What would you recommend I do to stand out & drive business to my site?"

GREAT question!!!

Dolores asks: "Do you recommend showing or not showing the property address on your IDX feed site?"

Dixie asks: "What quanity of leads do the participants receive on monthly basis? What percentage turn into closings?"

Kevin asks: "What about successes with specific targeting of small markets or is your focus broad based in larger geographic areas?"

Nishika asks: "How important are the graphics (maps, stats, charts) used in blogs? Any recommendations on vendors who create them?"

Tonda asks: "Is Karen using her personal facebook or does she have a business fan page?"

Jenny asks: "Do you update the information on your websites on a regular basis?"

Maureen asks: "Do you recommend using your own name for your real estate website?"

Karoline asks:  "What one thing would you say makes your website a success in gaining business from the website?" and related: "What do you find reaps the biggest reward for your time, updating the website, blogging,etc....?"

If you'd like to respond (and please do!) to any or all of these questions, just copy & paste 'em to your comment. Feel free to add links to your heart's content if they're helpful in the context.

THANKS!!!

 

 

 

If you follow my blog, you've seen one or two (or three or four) references to the Summer of Soul - which is a series of real estate-related teleseminars hosted by Yours Truly that run throughout the summer. I'm charging a few bucks for it, not too many ($49 for the package), but enough to make you pause and ask yourself if it's really worth it. At least, I hope you do because I'm the last person who would tell you to throw your money away these days!

Anyway, I'll let you judge for yourself - below is the final schedule of events. We kick off tomorrow and run through Labor Day. All sessions are recorded, so don't think you have to cancel your summer vacation if there's a conflict. If it looks good, you can register here: www.sellwithsoul.com/sos-seminar-series.html.

Summer of Soul Seminar Series Schedule

Saturday morning, June 6th
Introverts are Salespeople, too!
An interview with Master SOI'er and proud introvert, Susan Haughton. Susan has never cold-called, door-knocked or even so much as asked for a referral... and she'd die laughing if you suggested she do such things. Yet she enjoys a successful career without ever venturing out of her comfort zone. (included in the Summer of Soul package - enroll here)

Saturday morning, June 20th
Q&A with Broker B
This will be fun! Broker Bryant Tutas will join us for a 90-minute Q&A where he'll answer all those burning questions you have about his successful business model (hey, this is a guy who charges a retainer fee to BUYERS!), and how he got to be "Soooooo Good-Looking!" (open to the public, enroll here)

Tuesday evening, June 30
Have More Fun and Sell More Real Estate! 
Contrary to how it might sound, this is not a silly little filler program - no, FUN is serious stuff! If you don't enjoy what you do, most days anyway, you'll fail. Our goal is to help you identify what's fun for you (and what isn't), so you can experience all the success you dream of. (included in the Summer of Soul package)

Wednesday evenings in July, beginning on July 8th 
Pipeline 2010
A four-session series on various projects you can start TODAY to ensure a full pipeline by 2010. Sure, we all need paychecks in 30, 60 or 90 days, but next year will be here before you know it and won't you feel smart if you hit 2010 will a nice little book of business already in place? I'll lead the discussions, but will be joined by a variety of guest hosts as well. (included in the Summer of Soul package)  

Tuesday evening, June 16th 
Negotiations: The Games People Play
This is definitely a not-to-be-missed program! Jackie Leavenworth (the Real Estate Whisperer) wow'ed us with her brilliance in an earlier teleseminar on the topic of Commission Negotiation. By popular demand, she returns for a full-on discussion of effective negotiating techniques that you can use in business... and in life. (open to the public; enroll here)

Saturday morning, July 18th
Prospecting with Soul - Playing the Numbers Game (or not, as the case may be)
I don't like being treated like a number... and neither do our clients. This session will discuss how you can take a Quality over Quantity approach to your prospecting and have a heck of a lot more fun in the process! (included in the Summer of Soul package)

Saturday morning, August 1st
Alternative Business Models
There's more than one way to skin a cat... or sell a house. Join this group of real estate rebels as we discuss various outside-the-box real estate models that might just pique your interest! (included in the Summer of Soul Package)

Saturday morning, August 15th
Surviving the Inspection
Especially if you work with "Charming Older Homes," you know how tenuous your deal is until you're through that inspection. Learn from the master (JA) and her expert guest, Mark Rakow, how to keep more of your sales together... and when to let them fall apart. (included in the Summer of Soul package)

Saturday morning, August 29th
For Rookies Only
In this special session just for soulful rookies (and those who train them), we'll help new and newer agents focus on what they need to be doing NOW to get up and running and bringing in a paycheck before they become just another ... sigh... real estate statistic. (included in the Summer of Soul package)

ENROLL HERE