3 Strategies to Running Your Real Estate Business

You are visiting RE Technology's site to learn how to use technology, which in turn will help you learn how to run your real estate business. If you are like me, you also read books--even when you don't have time--to get new ideas.

Recently, I was reading Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman. His book teaches the reader how to run further, faster, and for longer periods of time. As I was reading this, I knew almost immediately that this also applies to how to run a business. Three strategies that Mittleman introduces are How to Think, Train and Eat for the Distance.

The ideas below have been morphed for you, the real estate agent. Enjoy!

Thinking for the Distance

Success is 80% psychological and 20% strategic—the classic 80/20 rule. I hear Tony Robbins say this all the time, "Before we can improve our business we must improve ourselves." That is why the first item discussed in Slow Burn is how to think. Mittleman focuses on believing in yourself, staying in the moment, and setting process-oriented goals.

Believe in Yourself.

No matter what you are trying to achieve, you must believe in yourself. A great example Mittleman uses is when he was hired to train hotel staff to run the New York City Marathon in just six short weeks. Only one of the 27 runners had ever run further than a 10k. How was he supposed to train them in just six weeks to run 26.1 miles? Easy—he taught them to believe in themselves. This is where you must start. Before you can accomplish anything, you must believe that you can do it.

Stay in the Moment.

Running a successful business is more like running a marathon, versus running a sprint. So many of us are focused on the future or the past that we forget what is right in front of us. We are chasing the next thing and not enjoying the moment.

I imagine that a few of you have children. I have two myself, and so often we are focused on what WE are doing next that we forget to enjoy the moment we have with those around us. We must learn to stop and enjoy the moment.

Set Process-Oriented Goals.

Say you have a goal to run a marathon in the next three months. You train your butt off until you reach that goal. You pat yourself on the back when you are done—but then what? Another marathon? A 5k? It's hard to say. Oftentimes, we completely stop doing the things that helped us proactively reach our goals once we set them.

This is done in business all the time. We set a goal for five transactions a month, work our tails off until we get there, and then pat ourselves on the back. But is that it? No! Instead of focusing on the goal, we should focus on the processes.

Instead of being focused on completing five transactions a month, each day we should focus on ONE referral, ONE new lead, ONE client meeting, etc. If we remain in the present, we will accomplish our goals in no time.

Training for the Distance

Now for the 20%. We cannot reach our process-oriented goals if we are doing the wrong things. To train for the long-term growth of your business, you need to buy the products that fit your business, focus on your form, and build a customized plan for your business.

The average broker offers twelve products to their agents. Twelve! Do agents only use the products their broker offers? Of course not! They use products from their association, MLS, and what they buy themselves. That is a lot of stuff to learn. But do you really need them all? No. You need to figure out which products actually work for the type of business you are creating. If you are a new agent, a complicated CRM does not make sense. You need something simple. Once you have selected your products, then learn everything you can about them to help your business grow. Always keep training.

Training leads to proper form. With the training you receive for the products you have decided to use, you must learn how to use them properly. That is form. Doing the right things the right way—that's how you should train.

Once you have your products, training, and form down, then it is time to build yourself a customized plan for growth. I would not recommend someone go this alone. There is always someone that has done what you are trying to do. Learn from them. Learn from their mistakes to build your plan to move forward.

Eating for the Distance

Now, for the easiest of the three. Eat for the long-term growth of your business.

Your business (and yourself) will suffer if you don't eat right and stay healthy. I am not going to tell you how to eat. I am not going to tell you about the best diet. This is a technology website, not a nutritional site.

What I will tell you is the same thing that Mittleman says, "Personalize Your Food Strategies." We are all different. What works for me, may not work for you. Personally, I am allergic to gluten. If I ingest gluten, then I end up with a migraine for three days. When I personalize my food strategy, there is no gluten in sight.

You must decide your meal plan based on you. However, the reason for eating right is to have the energy to help your business grow. Without that energy, thinking right and training right doesn't matter.

Your Turn

In my last two articles, 3 Tips to Master Your Gmail Inbox and 3 Zoom Tips to Look 10x More Professional, you were immediately able to stop and take 15 minutes to practice the tips. These strategies take a bit more time to execute. But in all fairness, they will have the biggest impact on your life and on your business.

In the next 15 minutes, schedule weekly time (approximately 60 minutes each week) to work on these three strategies on how to run your business for the long term. You will not regret it.

If you are interested in reading Mittleman's book Slow Burn, you can pick it up from Amazon here.

Come back next week to learn how to find tech support for your products.

If you have any questions about these business strategies or have suggestions for more, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.