Fresh Start for 2011 - ZERO contacts?

Every New Year some of us try very hard to start off with a clean slate. Get rid of the old, bad things, and start fresh. I usually take the opportunity to take a long hard look at my business.

Look at the past year at all the interactions I had. Those contacts that resulted in a relationship, and those that did not. Were most referrals? Family/friends? Result of an "up" call? Internet savvy folks who "found" me online? Email contacts? Snail mail? Then I look at the expense report. Am I spending too much on marketing that's giving me no return? Okay, so some things are not giving me much, but do I keep them because I'm told I should? For instance, I'm told I need to have a great presence online. I need to have my face out there. I need to blog. I must generate Google juice. I have a work web page, is that enough? Video is the latest/greatest tool. Should I create one? My FB page recently went over 100 likes, that's encouraging. I have 72 followers on Twitter - hmmm, need to work on that....

I've started blogging on Active Rain again. Will I EVER get featured? Still hopeful that I will someday be able to blog about being an Active Rain Success Story - wouldn't THAT be wonderful?! Just need to stay consistent and offer valuable insight on our local market and the trials and tribulations and JOYS of being a Realtor :)

Then onto the hardware. Laptop, check. Ipad, not yet. In the spirit of starting fresh, I decided I was overdue in updating my iPhone. Apparently, this was a BIG one because I got warned to make sure I transferred all my purchased items before proceeding. Yes, I should have taken this as a sign to backup first, sigh. When it was all over, I had a few new features, but NO CONTACTS in my database! Of course, anger comes first. Then desperation. Then resignation. My own fault.

This forced me into the realization that I had a lot of contacts who simply needed to go. Every person I met at an Open House, every call I ever received on the desk, etc.... did I really need these? Some have been on my phone for a few years. Am I ever going to call them directly? Probably not. Most of those I have an email address for anyway. My current clients, of course, are important. But I can always retrieve their data when I meet them soon. Other agents? All that information is provided in MLS.

Kind of liberating, really. I am certain that if people want to reach me, they can find me. NOT the other way around. Isn't that the best kind of business anyway?

Carolyn E. Durkin, Realtor®, CBR