After my response to the "secret agent" I received another email from her about a week later. Here's what it said:

There are very few blueprints available to real estate agents who want to expand their business through the building of a team.  The people who have built teams have done so predominantly through trial and error.  My desire is to give you the initial steps of that blueprint to success.

Clear communication is vitally important, especially since most of us are extremely busy trying to balance some personal time while staying on top of all the changes, challenges and opportunities of this emerging market. The way we communicate our thoughts, ideas and solutions can make or break  meetings and relationships and can stifle the ability to successfully resolve issues and generate positive breakthroughs. What is your communication style, are you a magnet for people's attention or do they try to find a back door escape when they see you coming? Let's take a look, shall we.....

Technology is the prominent topic of conversation in almost every real estate office in the country today. Each company is working diligently to keep up with the next new development on the information super highway. Due to the incredible amount of information now available to the general public, the public’s perceived value of a real estate agent is changing dramatically. As a result, the value of the company the agent works with is also changing. For example, 10 years ago agents joined companies based on the great value of a multi-function high-speed fax machine and maximum exposure through the local newspaper classified section. Today, the average buyer or seller can see the complete inventory of homes for sale on the Internet from the comfort of his or her own home.

     During my 20+ years as a business advisor and executive coach, I have mentored thousands of people to higher levels of success, especially in the real estate industry. Near the end of 2007 I started receiving “anonymous” emails from a REALTOR® in southern California (that’s the only personal information she revealed to me) that were both a plea for help and a revealing look into the real estate coaching business. Since the emails I received were anonymous (I really have no idea who the person is who has been sending me these emails) I decided to publish some of the content as a way to advise other real estate professionals as well as provide a means to help real estate coaches learn some important insights about their methodologies.

It’s amazing to watch the world through the eyes of a child.  The exposure we gain is immeasurable.  The evaluation skills we can take and the questioning of everything by the child gives pause to our often routine, busy lives.

     Sounds interesting doesn’t it? As someone who has recommended goal setting for years, I was also stunned when I first heard about the concept that goal setting may be holding you back! After all, I have read all the materials on goal setting (Napoleon Hill, Jack Canfield, Zig Zigler, Anthony Robbins) and I even wrote books on goal setting myself (Affirmations of Wealth,  Your Spiritual Gold Mind). It took a tremendous gut check, brutal honesty and a massive paradigm shift to admit, goal setting is an old technique that just isn’t as effective as it used to be.

In the last installment, I discussed website basics.  I intentionally left off one part of the typical website: the capture mechanism or gateway.  Some call it the form or registration page, but whatever you call it, it is the most important part of your site.  As far as I’m concerned, it is more important than the website itself.  Yes, I really said that.  Let me repeat myself: It is more important than the website.

Most Agents hold top-producing Agents in the highest regard.  A top-producing Agent is given a status that is almost God-like.  Since I was put on a pedestal for many years during my sales career, let me give you an undeniable truth.  Each and every one of us has a top-producing Agent inside of us trying to get out.  Each person has the God-given ability to produce at a stratospheric level.  Top-producers are ordinary people who happen to be doing extraordinary things.