I want to highlight three key stats that drive our real estate business:

First, about 80% of our business consistently comes from our sphere of influence, no matter what we do.

Second, an impressive 53% of today's industry transactions are from millennials.

Lastly, a Nielsen report reveals that a significant 92% of consumers trust family and friends over advertising. This underscores the importance of reviews and recommendations.

Now, let's dive into these areas and ask ourselves what we've done in the last six months to strengthen our sphere of influence, boost sales, and expand our reach.

Consider this: In a changing market landscape, where factors like interest rates and conditions influence sales ratios, it's crucial to grow our audience.

If your sphere of influence isn't growing, you might already be experiencing a decline in business due to lack of proactivity.

But it's not just about quantity; quality...

I've got a story from my trip to Boston with my wife. While our son was in summer camp, we embarked on a delightful foodie tour of Little Italy, guided by an amazing teacher turned tour guide. He shared the rich history of the area, led us through fantastic shops, and treated us to mouthwatering cuisine. Toward the end, he pulled off a brilliant move relevant to your real estate efforts.

As we basked in the afterglow of a satisfying tour, he proposed a group photo. After the snap, he asked, "Who wants a list of all the restaurants we visited today? Just give me your email, and I'll send it over."

We all gladly obliged. Upon reaching home, his email contained the promised picture and the tour's culinary highlights. Here's the genius part: he added a well-placed plea for a review, taking advantage of our post-tour excitement. We promptly provided a glowing review.

He went further, offering even more value. For...

Hey everyone, have you ever found yourself in a lull, wondering how to make the most of your downtime? Well, I've got three impactful activities to supercharge your business during those quieter moments.

Let's delve into them:

Step #1 - Cleaning and categorizing your database.

It might not sound glamorous, but trust me, this is the foundation for success. Your database is like a garden, and nurturing it ensures fruitful outcomes. Get in there, organize it, weed out the unnecessary.

Begin by categorizing contacts into groups:

The A group: those who refer you business, your champions.

Then the B group: They've transacted with you but haven't referred yet.

Acquaintances form the C group: They know and like you, but haven't done business or referred.

Lastly, the D group: Reconnect with them or let them go. Don't keep dead weight.

Maintaining momentum, let's talk about building your database. The game has changed with...

Guys, 60,000 agents have already left the industry, and another two to 300,000 are projected to follow.

But here's why it's good news for us as REALTORS:

Each departing agent likely had one or more transactions last year. As they leave, those opportunities come back into play, and we have the chance to handle them as real estate professionals. So we can expect to get busier with each agent's exit.

However, there's an even bigger opportunity that most agents are overlooking:

Every agent who leaves the industry leaves behind a sphere of influence, a network of family and friends who may have some influence that we can tap into.

Here's what you can do:

Reach out to these exiting agents and express your condolences about their departure. Then ask them a quick question: Would they be interested in monetizing their hard work by earning referral fees? Since their license is still active, they can leave it hanging and...

If we look at the engine of your business, it's your sphere of influence.

Statistically, for every 10 people in your sphere, you'll average one closed sale.

But that's only if you stay in touch with them 20 to 50 times a year and have a good relationship with them. So let's go back to January 1st. Do you know how many people were in your sphere at that time?

If you don't, you don't have control of your business.

Now, fast forward to today. Have you grown your sphere of influence in the past six months? If not, your business may not be growing and could even be shrinking due to market challenges.

We can't escape market conditions by focusing on other things and neglecting our sphere. The key to changing your business's trajectory is to quickly increase your sphere of influence. You may be wondering how to do that. Well, here's a magic number to keep in mind:

The average American has 27 conversations a day. As REALTORS, we should...

Why aren't you getting more referrals?

The problem is you're not asking for referrals. You think you are, but you're not.

Let me give you a natural and fun way to ask for referrals that people love:

Think of your sphere of influence as your personal sales army. Imagine you recruited a hundred or more salespeople to work for your team. If you gave them an assignment, do you think they would bring you sales?

Of course they would. The reason they're not doing it now is because you're not giving them guidance as the sales manager.

So here's an example of what you can do: Send a mass text, email, personal calls, or even a video text to your sales army, saying:

“Hey guys, I'm really short on inventory right now. If you see a house with a preferred sale sign or a vacant house, could you quickly take a picture and send it to me? It could give me an edge in getting that listing. Thank you!”

Another idea is to...

Hey guys, June is National Home Ownership month.

This is a golden opportunity to reach out to all the homeowners in your database and provide them with a quick equity assessment.

Let's make the most of it! Instead of reaching out to one homeowner a day, let's aim for two or three. We can really make an impact this month. So here's the plan:

I'm going to use my favorite platform, https://www.narrpr.com/, which is free for every REALTOR.

It allows me to create a visually stunning, 81-page CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). But I won't just send them the paper CMA. I'll create a video using BombBomb or loom.com. In the video, I'll say,

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, did you know that it's National Home Ownership Month? I wanted to provide you with an update on your home equity. There have been some significant changes in the market, and I want to keep you informed. So, here's a personalized report for your...

Hey guys, let me share an inspiring story with you:

Years ago, I met Wan Foran, a REALTOR who faced incredible challenges on his journey to success. Wan graduated from real estate school on September 11, 2001, as a Muslim immigrant in a small town. Despite the odds stacked against him, Wan achieved remarkable success. I asked him, "How did you overcome these obstacles?"

His answer changed my perspective, and it can change yours too.

Wan knew he needed to expand beyond his local market to thrive. So he adopted a unique approach to farming...

Instead of targeting specific demographics or niches, he focused on feeder markets—areas surrounding his town that contributed potential clients. Wan identified the top 10% of REALTORS in each feeder market and initiated contact through postcards, calls, and emails. He introduced himself as a hardworking REALTOR and offered an enticing proposition:

If they referred clients to him, he...

How's your real estate business going?

When I ask some people this question, they seem to lack enthusiasm about where they're at with their business. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon as we've entered what I like to call the Real Estate Hunger Games, and here's what that means:

This year, we're projected to close about four and a half million transactions in real estate with around 1.6 million REALTORS. When we rewind the clock back to 2012, just about a million REALTORS were in business and we were still closing about the same number of transactions. With 60% more REALTORS doing the same volume of transactions, it's no wonder why it's more competitive than it's ever been in our industry.

So, the question is, how do you make sure that you're not market driven but strategy driven?

I'm going to share with you a simple strategy that's going to be so simple you might think it won't work, but it absolutely will work...

I have a quick question for you:

Are you marketing your marketing?

You might be wondering what I mean by that, right? Well, let me explain: As real estate agents, we do an amazing job for our clients. We use drone photography, staging, postcards, social media marketing, and more to showcase their properties. We go all out to sell their homes in record time and get them top dollar.

But who actually experiences all of this marketing? Sure, the buyers who purchase the property may see it, as well as a small group of people in our closest network. However, not everyone is seeing all of our marketing efforts. In fact, on social media, only about 4-6% of our audience is actually seeing our posts.

So, how do we market our marketing?

One approach is to create a success portfolio. Whenever you have a beautiful, photogenic listing, go all out and create a home book, do exclusive videography, Matterport, and everything else....