Sharon Senger

Hiring an Assistant is like trying to find “Mr. Right” you have to kiss a few frogs to find Prince Charming.

It’s lonely out there you tried it a few times, finding someone special but it never seemed to work out. So you keep working long hours and nothing ever seems to get done, you need another pair of hands, a partner to share the load. You look at other people they seem to cope without anyone, then there are the others, the one’s that have found that perfect partner, why oh why can’t it be me???

One day you are sat in the office working on the never ending pile of admin and the phone rings again another great opportunity but you have all these other things to do. Enough is enough; you decide I need an Assistant.

Right! Where to start? You grab the notebook and start writing feverishly all the things you can delegate, marketing, database management, transaction coordination. You are at least a bit organized you do like to make lists. That will come in handy when I have my Assistant you think I can delegate. Oh goody, now what else can I delegate that I don’t like to do and that takes up all my time…………

Now that I have my list, what’s next? Do I want them to live in the office next door or will they need to share with me? Will I want them here all the time or could it be a part-time relationship? You decide to phone your BFF because let’s face it they do know everything about you and they always
come up with a solution for all your problems.

They say “Why not hire a Virtual Assistant?” Wow what a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that, my BFF is so smart! Virtual Assistants are independent contractors and they work by the hour so I get to try them without a long term commitment and if it doesn’t work out then we can go our separate ways. No messy divorce, BRILLIANT!!!!

Working with your Virtual Assistant to build a strong Business Plan.

Establish Goals

First you need to sit down with your Virtual Assistant and establish your goals for next year. What are your short, medium and long term goals that will need to be achieved in order for you to be successful?

Map Out Your Plan

Together you will then write out your action plan for achieving these goals. This will provide you with the structure, organization and direction for your daily activities.

Follow The Plan

This will require discipline which is where your Virtual Assistant becomes your Accountability Partner. Your Virtual Assistant will set up a daily schedule to include all the tasks that need to be done in order for you to follow the plan and achieve your goals.

Focus On Being Profitable

What were the actions that made you the most R.O.I. (Return on Investment)? These are the investments that you need to focus on in order to secure a profitable business. By working with your Virtual Assistant establish those tasks that are not a good use of your time and hand them over to your Virtual Assistant.

System Implementation

As you focus on your business plan and subsequent actions then your business will grow. In order to maintain growth your Virtual Assistant will set up quality systems to ensure that your hard work does not go to waste.

Monitor Your Progress

In order to follow your business plan you need to monitor and measure your results. Schedule time every week with your Virtual Assistant to evaluate your progress and make adjustments as necessary.

Balance Your Life

In order to succeed you need to have balance in your life. This includes family, personal, spiritual and business time. By working with your Virtual Assistant to alleviate the mundane repetitive tasks will allow you to spend time with your family doing the things that bring you joy.

Every successful real estate career in order to continue to grow will reach a point where the Agent must delegate. Your Virtual Assistant is committed to your success as your success is their success.

Wondering what to send out in your newsletter for this month? Here are some safety tips for Halloween that you may want to include:

• Always set rules for the night out and make sure each of your children understand them thoroughly.
• Make sure children are accompanied by an adult (if very young) or are walking in groups of 4 or more.
• Check all flashlight batteries before they leave and give them an extra set.
• Set a return time, if possible give them a watch with an alarm on it set to that time.
• Make sure that at least one child in the group has a cell phone for emergencies and it is fully charged.
• Put reflective tape on their costumes, as many are dark.
• Instruct them not to eat any candy until they have come home and you have been able to inspect it.
• Make sure they know not to enter any house. They should only accept treats at the doorway.
• Give them street boundaries for their route and drive it with them before they go out.
• Instruct them to walk on the sidewalk at all times and to not cut across yards or take shortcuts.
• Do not let them run. Yard props and darkness make it easy to trip and fall.
• For small children, make sure they hold your hand at all times and walk to the front doors with them.
• Dress in layers, temperatures can drop fast.
• Make sure your children's costumes are not dragging on the ground, making it easy for them to trip and fall.
• Carry bandages (for falls), umbrellas and a spare bag, in case one rips.

Have a save and fun Halloween.

We meet on the September 15th 2007 and it was meant to be Diana was looking for a new home and I was looking for a new trail partner. Diana has taught me so much I cannot begin to thank her for her patience, kindness and fun sense of humor. I could not have asked for a better friend to ride the trails with.

Are you running your business like a business? If you were once in corporate America then you probably worked in a team environment. You had administrative support and a marketing department which allowed you to go out and meet clients to promote the companies services and products. This made you and the company successful as year on year the company grew and your sales target was met or surpassed. It was maybe one of the reasons you decided to go into real estate because you were a great salesperson and wanted to help people buy and sale real estate.

So why I ask do a large number of real estate professionals decide to be their own Real Estate Assistant? Is it because:

A. You like to be in control

B. Finances

C. You love to do the paperwork

Control:
You are still in control. It is not cost effective for you to sit in the office and enter names in a database, add a listing to the MLS, design a flyer or chase documentation for closing. You should be overseeing the work, not actually doing it!

Finances:
How are you going to grow your business if you are sat in the office. You need to be talking with past, current and future clients. The more people you are in touch with the closer you get to meeting your financial goals.

Paperwork:
I have yet to meet a salesperson who loves to do the paperwork. They would rather be out meeting people and doing what they love to do which is sell.

If you are going to continue to grow your real estate business then you need a good support team. So sit down and look at your business and decide what you can pass over to a real estate Assistant. This can mean either hiring a real estate Assistant or using an online real estate Assistant to allow you to get out of the office and be the Rainmaker.