About Central Okanagan, BC

Have you ever looked for inspiration to start off your day?

Have you ever wondered what happened to your energy levels?

Have you ever lost that positive outlook on things?

Have you ever needed motivation but couldn't find it?

Have you ever thought that maybe you just can't do the business of real estate anymore?

If you answered yes to one, some or all of these then I have a humble suggestion on how to kick start your day! Write a list of seven truths about yourself in order to help you feel more like...YOU!!! Of course you can modify the list to be more or less than seven ultimately, you just need to sit down and write it out. Just write out that list as it will effect how you look at yourself and everything around you

I have included my list below as an example:

Seven Truths About Jason Neumann

•· I am the best at what I do! - If you don't believe it then how can others?

•· Sales come to me because of me! - Your reputation counts for something for sure!

•· I have no real enemies, just fear! - How many times has this monster reared its ugly head at me!

•· Centurion status is easily achievable! - You must have goal(s) to strive for no matter how big you dream!

•· I am a positively contagious person to be around! - Your personality draws people to you and that's why they will continue to do business with you!

•· Century 21 Assurance Realty is the best brokerage! - You must believe that you work for the best company in town or it will show in every one of your actions!

•· I begin and end each day a very successful Realtor ® ! - What's left to say here??? BELIEVE IT, ACHIEVE IT!!!

I read this list out loud to myself each day to get myself in the right frame of mind and get the juices flowing for the day! Notice that I said "out loud" because hearing is also believing! This is a simple little way to remind yourself that you are a successful agent! On another note I am big on spending time with my family and building those relationships stronger. As my best friend puts it..."I will always be a happy man if I have a wife that loves me and children that respect me!" Great words of wisdom and ones that I have taken to heart! The real estate business can beat a person up at times and make you feel less human if you let it. Don't let negativity or trials get in the way of being a success, rather rise up to the challenges of this industry and come out on top!

Write that list today and you just may find it was some of the best time you spent on yourself in a very very long time!!!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

The little BIG news for me personally in 2009.

Just before 2009 arrived my wife had some "news" for me on Christmas Eve morning, we would welcoming a new addition to our family. We had recently been discussing the idea of another child and then there was nothing left to discuss,LOL! Every child is a blessing and I can't wait to meet the newest addition to our already crazy family. She is due right around my birthday so I just may get the best birthday gift a father could ask for! Lots of rest and peanut butter blizzards from our local DQ are in order.

My other BIG news in 2009 is...

MARKET SHARE!!!

Historically, when real estate markets shift from "hot" to "cold and slow" is when the top agents gain the most market share. As a market tightens up and selling a home takes much longer and buyers seem to have all but disappeared...so do agents. The first wave of agents to drop by the wayside are typically the lowest producing ones and then agents who were close to retiring anyway. With less agents to compete with that means more potential business for you! Our local market is experiencing this exact thing right now and my intention is to capitalize in this and gain market share.

Here are some practicle ways I plan on achieving this goal:

• Call expired listings as they can be a gold mine for business (some restrictions may apply in your area).
• Spend your advertise $$$ wisely in order to maximize your ROI, Google and Facebook Ad words are a great way to reach a target market.
• Call your Sphere of Influence as you never know who they know that might be thinking of buying or selling.
• Network with other agents, idea sharing helps everyone (isn't that what makes ActiveRain so great!?!)
• Most importantly...Stay Positive! No one gets excited about Real Estate talking to a doom and gloom kind of agent!

Okay, enough talking about it...I have some calls to make!!! Thanks for reading this post and happy blogging!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

COMMUNICATION!!! (Sorry I yelled that out loud, I just wanted to illustrate my point!)

This word alone will revolutionize the way that your clients perceive and value you at the end of the day!

A Seller's Perspective- The #1 reason that any expired listing gives me for not renewing with their previous Realtor® is...lack of communication! I have heard this so many times that I decided I would call my Seller's once a week (typically after our office meeting) and do something really out there, talk to them! Crazy notion? Glutton for punishment? Not at all, usually the first words I hear from my Seller's is "Nice to hear from you!" or "Thank you so much for calling!" Instead of agonizing at the thought of having to answer questions as to why their house hasn't sold, I welcome it! Be sure and take the necessary time to arm yourself with market statistics and trends to help your Seller understand what is really going on in the marketplace. Interesting to note, that not once have I ever been told by a Seller that "You call me too much, quite bugging me!" By opening the communication lines you build a stronger relationship with your client and here's a shocker, loyalty too! The cold hard reality as to why certain agents grow their businesses and others sit on the sidelines and watch is due to poor communication skills. The old 80/20 rule applies here, where 80% of the business is done by 20% of the agents. Think about it for a minute, would a pro football team execute plays effectively if the coach, QB and the coaches watching from above didn't communicate well together?

My challenge to us all is simple, don't be afraid to talk to your Sellers about their concerns. You just may be surprised as to how good those conversations can really be.

A Buyer's Perspective- Buyers obviously require the effective communication skills of an agent as well. If a Buyer has questions about a particular neighborhood and you don't say much, then are you communicating? Buyer's like Sellers rely heavily on the professional and expert opinions that they come to expect from a Realtor®. The whole process of purchasing a home can be quite daunting, especially for a first time buyer. There are a multitude of questions to be answered (and re-answered a lot of times) to instill confidence in the Buyer that they are making the right decision. Let's not forget the dreaded "Buyer's Remorse" syndrome and now we have to put on our counseling hats on as well. These are the times when an agent really earns his or her keep and why communicating with Buyers every step of the way is so imperative. Same rule applies here as well, don't be afraid to answer the tough questions because that is what were there for after all. It is wise to discuss questions and/or issues you know will come up at some point before a Buyer even brings them to your attention. Also, if you are working with Buyers that are what I term " long term investments" then be sure and keep them up to date on everything that meets their search criteria.

Buyers want to know that you have their best interests at heart and the way to prove that to them is answering their questions with honesty and integrity.

A Parent's perspective - A simple but often ignored rule is to listen first and speak later! My mother and father instilled in me that I had two ears and one mouth for a reason. The math does tend to make sense when you apply it to everyday communication skills.

Thanks for reading this post and now go on and get out there and start talking to your clients!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

"How am I relevant?"...is the question that I cannot stop asking myself!

I ask myself this question relentlessly on a daily basis. Every time I go to pick up the phone, jump online or whatever it is that I am doing I want to be productive! I need to remind myself that everything I do during the workday should be of some relevance to my real estate business. Otherwise, how do I expect to grow my business if I don't keep myself in check? I am a dedicated online real estate agent and that is where I spend essentially 100% of my time marketing myself and my clients homes. It is because of this large amount of time and effort that the temptation to play on the net is always there. Having sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace to name a few can be so very easy to get sidetracked and not be productive. Please do not think that I am advocating not having fun or down time, I simply know myself and what I need to do to keep moving in the right direction.

"How am I relevant?"...is the question I ask of my SEO and marketing efforts!

With my deliberate decision to focus my business to online presence, SEO is everything to my business! I am extremely passionate about squeezing every drop of "juice" out of the Google machine. Can I be found everywhere? Will potential buyers and/or sellers seek me out because of my onlne presence? I am constantly on the lookout for new sites that can further promote my business to a very visual online real estate world. There is so much more for me to do before I reach a page rank worth writing home about.

"How am I relevant?"...is the question I ask of all my blog posts!

Active Rain certainly has given me a lot to think about in terms of the art of blogging. Surely, everyone on AR can agree that we all glean so much just from being on here and sharing ideas. I truly believe that a good blog can produce tangible results in terms of lead generation and ultimately sales. I am driven to learn how to blog effectively and produce something worth reading. Like any artist, I really want to get better at my craft.

This question that is so ingrained in my mind will likely never be satisfied or quenched! Although, it may seem like I am obsessed I am simply passionate and driven to succeed. I am haunted by the question of relevancy by choice as I want to excel at my profession. I will never compromise my family for success and I am truly grateful for my wife and children as they keep me grounded in my everyday life!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

I typically don't make New Year's Resolutions as I find for myself it is no more of a motivator to achieve whatever promise I made to myself! You know historically at this time of year more people purchase gym memberships with the best of intentions to get into shape. However, a few weeks into the routine boredom, lackluster results and life in general tend to derail things! Sound vaguely familiar? Does this remind you of trying to achieve certain goals in your chosen profession only to see them fall to the wayside after months of frustration? I won't lie to you all, I will be the first to raise my hand and say that I certainly have experienced this and much more in the real estate industry. Sometimes, I felt like I was more of a thoroughbred race horse coming strong out of the gate only to struggle to finish the race all together. So, what have I done to get back on course you ask?

Here are a few practical ideas that I have found to work in my business plan:

Small goals achieved equal the sum of one large goal. - Simply put by having a series of realistic smaller goals in place, it will be much easier to achieve your overall larger goal(s). An example would be taking your target commissions for a year and breaking it down to the number of ends needed and then further dividing it into a twelve month calender. I find this takes some of the immediate pressure off when initially coming up with a yearly commission goal.

Talk to your colleagues, even your competitors. - Some of the best ideas I have ever implemented into my business have been from conversations with other agents in my office and across the street. It seems at times that agents want to hold their cards close to their chest out of fear that "someone" might steal a good idea and run with it! How selfish in my opinion. Look at all the idea sharing and help that is found right here on Active Rain!!! A site like this would not be where it is today without the building of community and the networking that takes place as a result.

Do one thing well as opposed to several things just so-so. - I made a decision over a year ago to be strictly an on-line agent in terms of the marketing of myself and my clients homes. Please visit my site at JasonNeumann.com and let me know what you think?! I can honestly say that it has been the most challenging but rewarding decision I have ever made in my real estate career. By finding something that I believed in and could put all my energies into, it really did help me to keep focus.

Talking to people tells them that you are in business. - A colleague of mine showed me how amazingly easy and practical this can be. He was new to the area and within a short period of time became one of top producing agents in our office! He did it by talking to everyone he came into contact with throughout his day, whether it was at a gas station, grocery store or local Starbucks (that is one place that can be a veritable gold mine). After a while he became known as a "neighborhood expert" in his own backyard. This lends credibility to the idea of doing one thing well. While I realize not everyone is comfortable with doing this type of thing, the results will come I can promise you that!

Blogging will generate business. - This may still come as a surprise to some but blogging is the future of successful business. I say that with complete conviction as I strongly believe and have seen the net results that blogging can bring an agent. The on-line world is more competitive than ever and blogging is the edge that is needed to succeed! A buyer looking to relocate to your city will certainly appreciate getting a sense and feel for a neighborhood based on your blog post. Pictures may be "worth a thousand words" but a well written blog post is the "entire book with pictures." People genuinely want to be informed about things that matter to them and blogging is how most of them are getting that information.

These are just a few ideas I have found to be successful in helping me to work smarter instead of harder!I hope this may be of some help to you or a facet of whatever business you are currently involved in.

Remember to have a great 2009 and best wishes of success to you all.

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann