Mike Henderson 303-949-5848 Genius Ventures

November 11th – Bigger Pockets.com and Your Castle Real Estate present Social Media and Real Estate November 11th 6:00 – 8:00

Location: Jefferson County Association of Realtors training room. 950 Wadsworth Blvd Lakewood, CO 80214-4591

Wondering what all the buzz is about? Confused about web 2.0? Learn how this evolving new medium can be used to increase your real estate business. Whether you are an agent looking for clients or an investor looking for properties learn how these powerful tools can be used. An overview of blogging, twitter, Linked in, Facebook and other powerful tools will be used. This class is not focused on the basics of setting up accounts, but more of the why and how to communicate with this new medium. About the presenters - Josh Dorkin - Josh is CEO and founder of www.biggerpockets.com He is one of the leading experts of using social media, especially as to how it relates to real estate. He created one of the largest social media sites focused on real estate with over 40,000 members. Mike Henderson

I'm really looking forward to this Josh is doing most of the talking.

Free real estate investing class in Denver, CO. Beginers are encouraged to attend.

November 10th – Real estate investing for newbies 6:00-8:00 This class is targeted to the person who has not acquired any property yet but is trying to do so. Whether you are going for "fix and flips," "wholesale," or "buy and hold," we will cover the basics. Additional topics include: Mentoring, do you need one? Gurus, is it worth investing in the material? The ABC's of business cards; The number one free marketing idea that you should do right now; How do I build my real estate team? Are you mentally, spiritually, and psychologically ready? This class should be extremely fun and entertaining. Who should attend? Newbies! You will even learn where the word came from.

Presenter – Mike Henderson

Location: Jefferson County Association of Realtors training room. 950 Wadsworth Blvd Lakewood, CO 80214-4591

I had a meeting today at my company office with Emelyn Morris-Sayre. I needed to meet up with her before she left to go off to San Diego for the CRS and NAR convention. We are going to be teaching a ninja class together, title yet to be determined. We know what the content is though.

I was excited to get the help of someone from across the country on this marketing campaign. I look for something to criticize in all marketing efforts and didn't find anything to change. It was pretty cool when I told her what I was doing that she thought I must have a big team with several buyers agents and assistants. I'm like no it's just me. If I can generate the extra leads that I think I can refer them out to. My company has over 200 agents I know how several of them work and the ones I refer out to our extremely professional and in many cases have more expertise than I do.

Mostly I think it's a great campaign. I want to test it out for myself to get a larger sample before I turn it on to others.

My company had a training class scheduled that day. It was about six ways to sell your home fast in this market. There was a wreck on I-25, I know because I was stuck in the same traffic jam. This also meant that the classroom was locked and we had students and potential clients standing around in the hall.

The three people that teach the most classes in the company are Lon Welsh, Charles Robers, Bruce Gardner and myself. My fellow agents Emelyn and Diane Wolta called people to try to get an extra key for the classroom. Two of the people there were at my class this Thursday, "How Real estate agents and Investors can work together." Somebody else out there asked when I was teaching the next one.

I went ahead and set up chairs in the atrium and started teaching the class. It certainly is a topic I'm not an expert. If you are a real estate agent and don't have an idea of how to sell a home fast you are in the wrong business. I pointed out one aspect that I am really good at is the marketing of the property.

The last home I listed in Aurora, CO had over 40 showings in 8 days and four offers. When the original speaker showed up I turned it over to the original presenter. I told her that I had just talked about the marketing. She said that is one of the six points. If you aren't working for a brokerage where coworkers treat each other like this perhaps you should join our company. If you are in the Colorado area than you can. The Lon or Charles that Mike Henderson sent you. Most importantly be sure to fill out Mike Henderson if you decide to join as who refered you. Key word to think is procuring cause :)

Real Estate agents are not good salespeople. The most suprising statistic I have learned in real estate is the one about how many real estate agents don't have prior sales experience. This number is around 85%. One of the reason I decided to get my license is the fact that when my wife and I started shopping for a home a couple of years ago was how universally the salespeople were. I have done sales and/or sales management for over twenty years so I have learned a thing or to about it.

Sales is not the old school high pressure sales tactics on your client. What professional sales is about is listening to your client to understand what the client wants, even if they aren't 100% sure. What that involves is several skills.

* listening is job one

* ask intelligent questions to discover what they are looking for

* intense product knowledge - this is especially true in real estate

* find a solution that meets their needs - whether they are looking for their dream home or the ideal investment situation

The most important thing is to always strive to do better. The number one thing to do is a postmortem analysis. Every conversation whether it results in a sale, a dead deal, the relationship going forward, or the relationship going backward needs to be analyzed.

Tonight was the first time in my life I asked a person to invest money in real estate with me. I've asked dozens of clients and potential clients to do this for themselves. Most of the time they have made this decision on there own and I merely show that I am the best choice for their needs.

They were from Florida and I had to certainly educate them on the Denver, CO market as well as all the various options. I answered all of their questions effectively, built rapport, and educated them on the process. I even had them buttered up with dessert.

Hint (It always helps to butter them up with a little piece of dessert). Admit it you want to be a client of mine don't you. Free dessert for everyone who buys a house.

I made a mistake at the end. Maybe it was the end of a long week, a long day, or just a Freudian slip. I asked at the very end. "How much money do you have to invest" This is what came out vs. what I meant to say. You can see those to little words and what a HUGE difference it makes. It's the difference between going I'm an expert and if you describe you available capital, your liquidity, your tolerance for risk, and your financial goals. What came out can make you sound like a bank robber, hood, or a real estate swindler. Two freaking words!

I will never, never, ever make that mistake again.

The other thing I should of done is there were two different parties there. At the end they were arguing over the check. What that means with classy people is who was going to pay for it. I saw the proximics of the table and knew that the waitress was 90% likely to hand it to the couple I was trying to recruit as an investor. I should of grabbed the check as it was coming over and handed it to the other party. Then I should of handed it to the other party. The other party could of written it off on their taxes. I should of done that and said, "I always look out for my clients best interests." That could of been one of the best closes ever in that situation!

Oh well. There were tons of great things said, great information given. Trust was established. Confidence was established. Credibility was established. Still I review every single sales call after thousands. That is how you get better. It's called a postmortem evaluation. Have you heard of this? Do you do this? Does your company do this? A powerful tool use and you will get better. If you don't use this how will you get better.

P.S. This blog was written late because I woke up from sound sleep bothered by it and wanted to share.

If you want real help give me a call.