8DollarFarming blog

I often write about the importance of not just meeting, but exceeding your clients’ expectations.  But what I think is interesting is how small the difference can be, and how easy it can be to cross over from competent (meeting expectations) to exceptional.

* Harvest Point *

The crossover from competent to exceptional is important because it’s [...]

Do you separate your contacts into list, and then communicate with them differently?  I did this when I first started in real estate.  I read a few books and listened to a few trainers who all said basically the same thing:
Divide your contacts into groups (A, B, C) of those most likely to use you [...]

* Harvest Point *

If any part of your marketing involves leading prospects to believe one thing is going to happen when instead something else happens, I suggest you re-work your plan. Tricking, misleading, fine print - whatever you call it; if you’re baiting your customers with an idea, and then you try to hook [...]

Since our official launch last month, we’ve had a ton of compliments on our newsletter service.  Just about everyone we’ve shared it with has agreed that our content quality is above par.  And everybody agrees that our prices are the lowest they’ve ever seen.  But the one comment we hadn’t had an answer for was, [...]

There isn’t any question that we’re in the middle of the worst real estate market in a long, long time. Many in our industry are losing site of the big picture and are focusing solely on their survival.
I understand survival is critical.. 1.) if you can’t put food on the table, your survival is in [...]

We’re all familiar with the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule), which states that 80% of your results are generated by 20% of your resources. This principle tends to hold true across all different types of scenarios and businesses.  Let’s take a look at how it might play a role in your referral-generated business.
The Talkers.  Let’s [...]

Were you smart enough when you got into this business to reserve a personalized phone number?  A phone number which corresponds to the letters on the phone to form a catchy word/phrase/name?  A catch-word so great you don’t even print the actual phone number on your marketing materials?
(555) REALTOR
(555) 4-Ruthie
(555) For-Loan
(555) Sam-West
(555) To-Homes

* Harvest Point [...]

Here’s the thing:  every Realtor and Loan Officer I’ve ever met knows they need to stay in front of their sphere of influence, or they risk losing high-quality referral business.  Yet very few actually follow through with this task.
I hear 2 reasons why not over and over again:

They’re too busy, and before they know it [...]

Everybody’s heard quotes about luck being a byproduct of hard work.
"The harder I work, the luckier I get"
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."
"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

I agree with all of those.  In fact, I’ve written about this topic before and I’ll probably write about it again.
But there’s generally a correlation you can [...]

We’ve all heard the real estate old adage “He who lists, lasts.” That’s because there’s a lot of truth to it. Listings are a magical part of the real estate business, and can increase your earnings significantly. But they can’t work any magic on their own; they’re merely props, and it’s up to you to [...]

How many people do you know? Let’s assume you add up your friends, family members, former colleagues from your prior jobs, former clients, and you know about 300 people. Let’s also assume the average person moves once every seven years. 300 / 7 equals 43 people who will move each year. Finally, let’s assume that [...]

Today I visited a master-planned community which has built an image of being the kind of place you where would want to live. They’ve gone to great lengths to see that every message to their potential new neighbors is well crafted and well presented: High quality materials, soothing color schemes and fonts, and highlights about [...]