When you think about having the real estate business and life outside your business you’ve always wanted what comes to mind? For most of us, there is a moment of dreaming big followed at some point by a thought like, “I’ll never be able to have that.” Or, something along the lines of “Sounds great, but I have no idea how to make that happen.” Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we think we can’t have what we want, or that what we want is somehow an impossibility for us? That what we want and our ability to actually have it are not equal? Life is too short not to have it be exactly the way we want it to be.  Like, why can’t you be a successful real estate agent and have a great life too?   Make good money and have some free time to enjoy it…that doesn’t seem like an impossible dream to me. It’s not asking for too much out of life, yet so many agents I talk to think a life like this is not in the cards for them.   Once you realize what you reallllllly want in life and how you’ve been holding yourself back, it can bring up a lot of emotions–sadness, anger, frustration, and after all that comes hope and then finally the thing that matters most–action.   In today’s workshop-style episode of Confessions of A Top Producing Real Estate Agent, I’m walking you through a 7-step process so you can make whatever you want happen.   And, because as Lee Iacocca said, “The disciple of writing something down is the first step to making it happen,” I’m also giving you a free workbook for you to use as I walk you through the 7 Steps to Get Anything You Want.   Get The 7 Steps To Having Anything You Want Workbook Here Having anything you want is not a catch phrase and it’s not too good to be true.  It’s something each one of us is capable of, but only if we remove what’s in the way.  This 7 step process will help you do that. Let this be the year you say I will _________________________ and then truly go for it like it’s going to happen.   Don’t just wait and see what happens, decide and then commit to make it happen.   ​​Not in a stressful way, but in a “I’m worthy and capable” kind of way.   Because you are. 💖 To your success, Jennifer Click here for the shownotes and transcript of this episode. Click here to get the workbook mentioned in this episode. If you're ready to make 6 or even 7-figures in your real estate business AND have time for a life, without needing a team to do it, learn how here. 

As you reflect on your accomplishments for this year, you may or may have not hit your goals.   The real question, though, is what are you going to do if you didn't hit the goals you hoped to?  Your answer to that question will determine what happens next.  It will determine not only how 2023 goes for you, but the entire trajectory of your real estate career.   Yes, this moment is THAT important.   If you didn't hit your goals this year, move the "T" as we say here at Agent Grad School.   Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com/MoveTheT Learn how you can have a 6-figure real estate business AND a life without a team here. 

Today I’m talking with one of Agent Grad School's mindset coaches, Nancy Anderson.  She is a master at helping people not just set a goal, but actually achieve it with her S.M.A.R.T.E.R goal process. Here’s what you’ll learn: What's missing from most goal setting advice that leads to us not achieving our goals; How to know whether the goal you are setting is achievable; What to do along the way to achieving that goal so you know you'll hit it; Each step in the S.M.A.R.T.E.R goal process so you can use it too! Whether you want to work on business goals or personal goals, today’s podcast will show you a proven process to help you reach any goal you choose.  To learn more about Nancy, the S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals process and get a free S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals process cheat sheet go to AgentGradSchool.com/CoachNancy. If you're ready to finally make 6-figures or more per year AND have a life, learn how at AgentGradSchool.com/Mentorship.

Real estate is emotional. Our clients have emotions, we have emotions and other people in the transaction have emotions. When you decided to become a real estate agent, you probably didn’t realize what an emotional roller coaster it would be! Not just for you, but also for your clients and everyone involved in the transaction – there are a lot of ups and downs coming at you from all sides. Understanding how to handle the emotions as a real estate agent is so important, I tell our students it’s the #1 skill they need to learn to succeed in this business. Learn how to do that on today's episode.   For more information on how to build a six or seven figure real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.   To view the shownnotes for this episode, go to: AgentGradSchool.com/Emotions.

On today's episode, I'm talking to one of Agent Grad School's three mindset coaches, Coach Lisa. Our goal with this episode: help you get unstuck and keep moving forward in your real estate business even if you've never done the thing you are trying to do and have no idea what to do next. Listen in to learn: The mindset shift that will create a spiral of upward business and personal growth; The “least sucky action” approach; How to move forward even if you haven't done what you are trying to do before; The difference between confidence and self-confidence and how one leads to the other; The “Four C’s” to getting unstuck; And so much more For the show notes for this episode, go to agent Grad School.com/CoachLisa. For more information about how Agent Grad School can help you build a successful real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.

A Niching Success Story My guest today, Harrison Casagrande knows all about how successful niching down your real estate business can be. Harrison felt a calling to help other military families find a home, and has created a successful real estate business serving military personnel in south Florida.  His story is a testament to the power of niching down in the real estate market. Join us today as we talk about how to successfully find your niche in the real estate business by: Identifying a problem (that you can solve!) Defining the value you will provide Becoming an expert Building trust  Connecting with your target market Harrison shows us how to build a truly gratifying business that is not only successful, but makes a difference in the life of each person he serves. Listen in to this episode to learn how you can do this too. To learn more about Harrison and get the shownotes to this episode can be found at AgentGradSchool.com/Military. 

There are huge opportunities during a market shift. The agents that will succeed through the shifts are the ones who see a sliver of opportunity and open that door wide enough for them to walk through it. Once they walk through the door, they decide to own the room. You have this opportunity right now. But, you might be wondering HOW. Or saying, “Yeah, but what should I actually DO?” That’s why I invited a good real estate agent friend of mine and fellow brokerage owner–Lindsay Dreyer–to today’s podcast. She was also very successful back during the last market shift and we discuss what we both did and continue to do during a shifting market. We also talk about what’s happening in the market right now, why you shouldn’t be confused, and give you strategies that will help you see the huge opportunities you have available to grow your business right now. The reality is people buy and sell homes every single day no matter what the market is doing. Your job is to find those people, become known by those people, and offer them something they need. That’s truly all it takes to succeed in any market. Listen in to today’s episode to learn how we did it and how you can too. Shownotes go to: AgentGradSchool.com/how-to-successfully-handle-a-market-shift/. For more information about how to have a successful real estate business no matter what the market is doing go to AgentGradSchool.com.

In Never Split The Difference, a former international FBI hostage negotiator, shares his time-tested and refined strategies for successful high-stakes negotiations — and discusses how we can use these strategies in all parts of our life, including – as we discuss in today’s podcast – your real estate business. Listen to today’s podcast and learn how Agent Grad School students are applying the negotiation strategies from this book to their businesses including: How negotiation starts with listening, validating emotions, and creating trust; Using mirrors to create empathy and bond with the other party; Using tactical empathy to find potential pathways to agreement; Why hearing “no” is a good thing; How to identify a client’s motivation using “how” and “what” questions; Using “The Black Swan” in your negotiations; And more! For show notes go to AgentGradSchool.com/neversplitthedifference.   For more podcast that will help you grow a successful real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcasts.

Every one of us works in a real estate market that has a yearly cycle to it (and a weekly cycle too, but that’s for a different conversation). Every year there are slower times and there are busier times. And they come and go like clockwork. So, here’s an important question to consider: How do YOU handle downtime in your real estate business? Do you let it fill you with anxiety and thoughts like, “This is the end of it. I’m never going to sell another house again.” OR Do you use the naturally slower times of the year to your advantage? How YOU decide to use these naturally quieter times could be just a life and business changing. Learn how to stop the anxiety and take advantage of downtime in your real estate business instead on today’s episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent, The Agent Grad School Podcast. Episode Show Notes: AgentGradSchool.com/Downtime.

Every summer, we host the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club.   July's book club pick was Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear.  This book introduces the idea that success is not a once in a lifetime transformation, but instead a byproduct of our daily habits.  Want different results?  Create new habits.  There are so many golden nuggets in this book that can be applied to real estate, from how to create new habits, to how to know if you've created a habit that will stick, and even how to break bad habits.   Here's an excerpt from our book club discussion so you can hear how we are applying the concepts in this book to our real estate businesses.  Next month's book is Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss.  Are you reading that one along with us?   Never miss an episode of Confessions of A Top Producing Real Estate Agent by joining the Agent Grad School Inner Circle.  It's totally free and you can join here: AgentGradSchool.com/InnerCircle

If things are happening slower in your real estate business than you imagined, I hope this episode helps you.   What I learned from being a real estate agent over the last 19 years is that we need to be patience--actively patient--in four very specific areas of our businesses: Patient with ourselves; Patient with building our career; Patient with the market; and Patient with our clients. Learn more about how to be actively patience and how it can actually speed things up in your real estate business on today's episode.   For this episodes show notes go to: Agentgradschool.com/activepatience/ To grow your real estate business go to AgentGradSchool.com

Every summer, we have a book club here at Agent Grad School. Our students pick the books–one for June, another for July, and a third for August. At the end of each month, we discuss the books and share how we are applying what we learned to our real estate businesses with you. If you are following along with us in the Agent Grad School 2022 Summer Book Club, June’s book was This Is Marketing by Seth Godin. his book is a true must-read for every real estate agent. Why? Because it completely redefines how we think about and approach our marketing. Author Seth Godin breaks marketing down into 5 steps, and on today’s podcast, a few of our students and I are sharing how we are applying these five steps to our real estate businesses. Learning and most importantly, applying, these five steps will change the way you think – and the way you act – when it comes to marketing your real estate business. Marketing is more than how to find clients, or how to attract clients. It’s about finding your niche, and seeing your marketing as a way to help those people find the change they are looking for. We hope it helps you redefine how you market yourself as a real estate agent as much as it did for us. Listen in as the AGS book club and I discuss how we are applying what we learned from this book to our real estate businesses.   For more podcasts like this, go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcast.

Have you ever been told you need to be “everywhere” online to get clients or be a successful agent in today's market?   Sounds like a recipe for burnout to me.   You absolutely don't have to be everywhere on social media to have clients coming to you and have a successful business.   On today’s episode, learn what to do instead: The first decision you need to make when it comes to being on social media; How to know where you should be online; Why being “everywhere” online is a waste of time; How the decision about which platform to be on determines the content you should be creating; And so much more! Shownotes: AgentGradSchool.com/NotEverywhere/ If you are ready to make six figures as a real estate agent AND have a life without a team, without old-school tactics and without posting on social media all day, join Agent Grad School to learn my 5 Pillar System for a six figure real estate business.   AgentGradSchool.com/enroll

Here's what you'll learn in to today’s episode: How to successfully attract clients using social media; The very important difference between social media tactics vs. social media strategy; Why social media without the right strategy will never work; and My easy 3-step process to social media success. For the shownotes go to: https://agentgradschool.com/socialmediastrategy/ If you want to make six figures as a real estate agent AND have a life, all without a team, go to AgentGradSchool.com. 

Here’s a sneak peek into what you’ll learn in this episode: How to set expectations about how quick you'll see results when you start something new;  Why focusing on metrics and "the numbers" can sabotage you and what to focus on instead;  What to do if you aren’t getting any results and how to know if you should stay the course or jump ship;  How to know if you are on the right track towards your goals, even if you don't have the results you thought you would by a certain timeframe; and so much more! Episode Show Notes: www.AgentGradSchool.com/episode100.

Little did we know, but when we became real estate agents, we also had to become money managers. But, no one teaches us HOW to make these important decisions and even what decisions we should be making.  Things like: How much should I be paying myself? How do I know if I can take that vacation? Can I afford to hire an assistant to help me in my business? What should I be spending on marketing? Do I have enough saved for taxes? None of that should be a guessing game and using the Profit First system gives you all the answers.   Listen in to today's episode to learn more.     To access the free resources mentioned in the episode, go to this episode's show notes here: AgentGradSchool.com/profitfirst

Over the last two decades of being a successful real estate agent, I’ve learned a lot about money. How to make it.  How to spend it wisely. How to keep more of it.  And how to grow it. On today’s episode, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about money and being a real estate agent over the years. Everything I’m sharing came at a very high price and a huge learning curve. My hope is that by me sharing the lessons I’ve learned about money as a real estate agent, you’ll be able skip some of the painful money lessons I’ve had to endure and reach your money goals much more quickly than I did. Here’s what you’ll learn on today’s episode: the three steps to making money as a real estate agent; how to spend money on the things that will help your business grow; the financial management things I skipped for years as a real estate agent that cost me tens of thousands of dollars; what to do to keep more of your hard-earned commission dollars; And more. Shownotes: www.AgentGradSchool.com/money To learn more about how to launch and grow a six figure real estate business go to AgentGradSchool.com.  

You can spend time or you can spend money, but you're always spending one in your real estate bsuiness.   You are always, without exception, spending one or the other. Learn when to spend time, when to spend money and what to expect when you are investing in each on today's episode.   To learn more about how to have a successful real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.   

There are two types of "leads" that come to us as real estate agents and yes, I'm comparing them to cookware.   Learn how to help the Crockpots™ who move more slowly and the Instapots move faster.  Most agents only focus on the Instapots.   Huge mistake. You need a real estate business that welcomes both.   Learn how in today's episode.  For more information to help you grow your real estate business, go to AgentGradSchool.com.

How to be content even if we aren't where we want to be yet with aduthor of Radically Content, Jamie Varon.    

My guest today is Andy Mulholand from 5 Simple Numbers.  He used to have one of the top teams in Minnesota.  Now, he is a outsourced CFO and book keeper for real estate agents.  He’s come up with such a simple way to look at the financials in our real estate businesses.   He says it comes down to just 5 simple numbers.  Listen in as he explains how simple the financial part of your real estate business can be AND, how once knowing these 5 numbers in your real estate business can empower you to make good decisions, help you budget AND help you invest in the right places in your business, including yourself. Even if you have a bookkeeper already and/or a CPA, understanding these 5 key business of a real estate business is crucially important to sustaining and growing your successful real estate business. Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com/5simplenumbers

The real estate market is really noisy right now.  Full of pessimism.  And, yes, the market is super tough.  Tougher than ever perhaps.  But, despite what you are hearing "out there" you and your clients can be successful. How?  Start by putting your blinders on and shutting out the noise. Listen to today's episode to learn how and what results to expect when you do.  To learn more go to AgentGradSchool.com

The truth is, you can’t be a top agent without hiring people to help you make it happen. This episode will help you hire the RIGHT person who can help you grow.  For more details and even a list of interview questions, go to AgenGradSchool.com/forcemultiplier.

You keep hearing you need to worry about SEO but you are a real estate agent, not a computer wizard and don't know where to start.  You get those calls from companies telling you they can get you on the first page of Google and you wonder if it's worth the investment.  Learn the answers to these questions and so much more about SEO for your real estate business on today's episode.  For the links mentioned in this episode, go to AgentGradSchool.com/SEO

We all know that reviews and testimonials are something we SHOULD be getting from our clients, but are you asking for them?  Why not?   On today's episode, learn how to get more reviews and testimonials more easily, where the best place is to post them so you get even more clients, how to handle a less than 5-star review and so much more.  Learn more at https://agentgradschool.com/podcast. 

Unfortunately, being a real estate agent means being able to handle a lot of rejection. My guest today is one of our students and she coined the term casual indifference.  It the perfect mindset to have as a real estate agent so I asked her to share it with all of you!  Thanks Regan!  For more great tips on how to succeed (and sometimes survive) being a real estate agent, go to AgentGradSchool.com.  

Do you ever daydream about opening your own brokerage one day? Be a fly on the wall during my conversation with one of my favorite indie brokers, Lindsay Dreyer of City Chic Real Estate. She shares her inspirational story about why and how she became a broker and the powerful strategies she implemented to develop a thriving brokerage. You’ll hear her talk about her transition from an independent agent to a successful broker-owner, how she assembled a team of amazing agents, and the one step she regrets not taking early on that would have saved her a lot of trouble. For more great tips on having a successful real estate business go to AgentGradSchool.com.

Listen in as I interview LinkedIn expert Donna Serdula on how us real estate agents can use LinkedIn to become known as the real estate expert in our area and bring clients to YOU.   With over 740 million users, this is a social media platform worth using in your real estate business. For more free success strategies for real estate agents go to AgentGradSchool.com.

If you want to be a successful real estate agent, you can't focus on the money you'll make. Sounds counterintuitive, but it's not. It's by focusing on truly helping your clients that the money comes, almost effortlessly. On today's episode, you'll learn on you can make so much money by not focusing on it, even when money is tight. For more strategies to create a successful real estate business go to AgentGradSchool.com.

Whenever you set a goal for yourself, how certain are you that you’ll actually achieve it?    Listen to today's episode to learn how you can know for sure whether you'll achieve your goals.  For more strategies to create the real estate business and life you want, more go to AgentGradSchool.com. 

I swore off business planning  until I met my guest today, Erin Bradley. Her theory is that our business plans should not just focus on our businesses, but that it should actually be a lifestyle plan first and foremost. A business plan that puts your life first. Brilliant. Because why else do we have a business at all if it isn’t for the life we hope to create with it? In this episode, Erin walks us through the five step process she uses to design a business and life that leaves enough room to enjoy the time and financial freedom that we hope having a business plan will create for us but most business plans completely skip this part!! And, the best part is that the entire plan fits on one page. So, you can reference it all year long and make sure you are on track. You’ll definitely want to pause while you’re listening to this episode and take notes. Erin is sharing her one-page lifestyle and business planning worksheet so you can follow along as she walks us through how to create a life we love and a business we won’t want a vacation from. Download your free worksheet at AgentGradSchool.com/businessplan

On today's episode, we are talking about Pillar 5 of the 5 Pillars of a Successful Real Estate Business--The After Phase.  This phase is about keeping in touch with your past clients in a way that doesn't bug them for business or take much of your time, yet still provides referrals and repeat business.   The point of keeping in touch with your past clients is not to "get" clients or referrals from them.  It's to help them be great homeowners, provide resources for them, and position you as the real estate expert in their life even if they aren't buying or selling anytime soon. 

You don't need to spend a lot of time or money to create a "wow" experience for your clients when they go under contract.  Learn how to do that on today's episode.  

Today, I'm diving deep into the Doing Phase, which is Pillar 3 of the 5 Pillars of A Successful Real Estate Business.  This is the phase when you are literally doing what your clients hired you to do--buy or sell a home or both.  This marks an incredible opportunity for you to create a one-of-a-kind experience your clients will want to tell everyone about, which, in turn, brings even more clients to you.   

Don't skip this crucial step with your buyer and seller clients--the initial consultation.  An initial consultation is not about selling or telling, it's about figuring out why your client wants to move, creating clarity about when they want to do that and most importantly educates them on how you can help them make that happen.   Be curious, be interested and don't skip this step! Learn how and how to create amazing initial consultations on today's episode.  For more go to AgentGradSchool.com/initialconsultation

You can't sell any houses if you don't first "sell" someone on one very important thing: You. Not just you, but why someone should choose you as their agent vs. all the other options they have available to them. Learn why traditional real estate agent marketing doesn't work very well and the 5 questions you can answer to come up with a compelling reason why someone should choose YOU. For more, go to AgentGradSchool.com/marketingyou.

These 5 pillars exist in your real estate business whether you know it or not. They are also the very same steps you and your clients go through during every transaction. Find out what they are, why they are so important, and how to know which pillars you need to work on to strengthen your real estate business and create a business so rock-solid that can thrive in any market.

“You can have excuses or you can have success; you can’t have both.” Here’s another one: “If you’re ready to make more money, you can.” So, then, what’s standing in our way? There’s only one reason: what we believe about money. Listen in to today's episode as we discuss this awesome book--You Are A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero and learn how our thoughts are reflected back to us in our real estate businesses and in the amount of money we have in our bank account.  

What if you could create a real estate business where your answer to this question determined everything: WOULDN’T IT BE FUN IF...   Wouldn’t it be fun if…all the clients I wanted came to ME consistently and automatically AND they were the exact clients I wanted to work with? Wouldn’t it be fun if…I didn’t have to drop everything to meet strangers at houses? Wouldn’t it be fun if…I could make $1M per year AND take 6 weeks of vacation AND not have to manage a team of people to make it happen? Wouldn’t it be fun if…I could DO LESS and still have the results I want in my business and in my life too? Wouldn’t it be fun if…I didn't need to pay for leads and knew how to create them organically for myself instead? How would you answer this question for YOU: Wouldn’t it be fun if  ______________________? Be audacious.  Pick something that seems impossible, almost laughable to you right now. And then, wouldn’t it be fun if...you made THAT happen?   Listen to this episode to hear how I created a real estate business just like that and how you can too.  For more go to AgentGradSchool.com. 

Do you want to get more done in less time? (Who doesn't?) What about a way to keep track of and keep in touch with all your leads, current clients, sphere, and past clients. How about getting everything that’s in your head off your plate? You can do all this and so much more with the right CRM. But, how do you know the right one to choose? When is the right time to get one? How do you set it up quickly and easily? Is the free one you get at your company good enough? After using and/or trying out almost every CRM on the market over my 18 years as I real estate agent, I can unequivocally say that Realvolve is the best CRM available for real estate agents. In this episode, Realvolve’s COO, Dale Warner, and I talk all things CRM. Here’s what you’ll learn: What a CRM is and why every real estate agent needs one; When the “right” time is to get one; How to know which CRM is the best option for you (usually the cheapest option is not the best option); What mistakes to avoid when choosing and using a CRM; and How you can get all my Realvolve workflows and email templates. I truly believe having the right CRM is the most powerful tool you can have in your real estate business.  I hope this episode helps you choose the right one for YOU.   Go to AgentGradSchool.com for more. 

Playing Big is not only the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club choice for July but it's also a way of being in your life and in your business. Tara Mohr, the author, says Playing Big is about being more loyal to your dreams than your fears.  Listen in to a snippet of our book club discussion.  We hope it inspires every real estate agent to read this book and Play Big!  For more go to AgentGradSchool.com/PlayingBig

I thought doing a rebrand was the perfect opportunity to show our students how I don’t just teach modern marketing in theory, I do the same things I tell our students to do to build my own businesses. As I go through my rebrand, I'll be using the Agent Grad School curriculum to completely revamp my real estate business and take the same exact steps our students take to launch or relaunch their real estate businesses. In this episode, I'm sharing how I'm starting the rebranding project.   To learn more, go to AgentGradSchool.com.

Part 2 of 2 of one of my favorite ever when it comes to real estate. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: How to take what you learned from your past career, no matter what you did before becoming an agent, and apply those skills to being a successful real estate agent; What to do when you feel overwhelmed; Why comparing yourself with other agents leads you down the wrong path and what to do if it happens; How to create your OWN version of success in real estate; What to expect when you are first starting out, especially how long it takes to “figure it out”; Your number one job as a real estate agent (it's not to sell homes!); What to tell yourself when you get rejected (which WILL happen a lot as a real estate agent); The mindset shifts you must make to go from newbie to successful in this business; and more over at AgentGradSchool.com!

This was one of my favorite real estate conversations ever!  Here's what you'll learn: The pivotal moment that changed everything in my business; The ONE question you have to answer in your business to become a magnet for clients; What to say to yourself when you want to quit and how failure can turn into your greatest strength; The 5 phases every real estate business has, even if you don't realize it; How to build a SCALABLE business and spend LESS time trying to get clients; The two most important skills that create a successful business; Why CONSISTENCY is not enough to build a following and the missing ingredient you need too; The two "personalities" we all have and how to use both of them to get the results you want in your life; and SO much more!

Our book club pick for June was The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg & John David Mann. This book presents five laws of “stratospheric” success explained using a short story format. We follow Joe, a salesperson who yearns for success. He thinks success is about hustling and “getting the deal done” but what he learns about success is that it comes easily and automatically once you apply the five laws of success. THE FIVE LAWS OF STRATOSPHERIC SUCCESS: The Law of Value The Law of Compensation The Law of Influence The Law of Authenticity The Law of Receptivity In our book club discussion, a few Agent Grad School students and I examine the five laws in depth and discuss how we can apply each to our real estate businesses and even our lives outside our businesses too. This is a must-read for any real estate agent, any type of sales-person, and really anyone who is looking to create success in their life both personally and professionally. Want to find out what other books we are reading this summer?  Go to AgentGradSchool.com

If you have a website or thinking of getting one anytime soon, this episode is a must! It’s good business and good karma to be a real estate agent who can accommodate the needs of everyone and your online presence should do the same. In today’s episode, you’ll learn: The three reasons why having an accessible website is necessary, the parts of your website that could be turning potential clients away, which disabilities you might not be considering that need accommodation, why having an accessible website can also be good for business, how you can make your website accessible and so much more! https://agentgradschool.com/accessible/

On this episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Agent, I’m sharing how you can help your buyers truly WIN in this type of “crazy” seller’s market.  Plus, I’m giving away one of my biggest secrets to how to write a winning offer. It’s so simple, yet so many agents overlook this one powerful clause in the contract. This one clause even outperforms cash offers if you use it correctly.  For more, go to AgentGradSchool.com

Learn more about how you can join the Agent Grad School Summer Book club for FREE, get the reading list and how to be part of the book club discussions all summer long!  Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com/BookClub2021. 

Here’s another one of those “things” that real estate agents are told to do that makes no sense–single property websites. On today’s episode, you’ll learn more about why single property websites are not the most effective tool to market your listings and what to do instead.  For more go to agentgradschool.com/podcast.

Want listings? In a sizzling seller's market like we have right now, it can be even MORE difficult to get listings because sellers have so many options to chose from and their home will sell pretty much no matter what.  They could even sell their home themselves! So, why should a seller choose YOU, above all other options, to sell their home right now? You need a compelling reason as to why they should. Listen in to this episode to learn what the most compelling reason is for most sellers right now, how you can come up with your own unique answer to that question, AND what you need to do next to bring seller clients to you. Go to AgentGradSchool.com for even more ways to bring clients to you. 

Learn what Curbio is and how it can help you and your clients in this competitive seller's market. Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com/curbio.

Just because “everyone else” is doing something or you think doing something will mean you win a deal, doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Today’s episode highlights three specific practices to stop doing and three things you can also start doing to foster accessibility to housing. I believe our job as real estate agents isn’t just to sell homes, but to truly help the people who need our help. You are helping to make the dream of home, and all that brings with it, a reality for people. You are doing important work. Don’t ever forget that.  Go to AgentGradSchool.com to learn more and get the resource I mention in this episode.  

In real estate, we are made to think we aren't successful unless we've won all the awards, sold all the houses, dominate our local market, and have our picture plastered everywhere with our arms folded in a power pose.    Raise your hand if that definition of success doesn't interest you?  (So many hands go up, mine did too) But it's hard to create a different picture of what success could look like when the messages from our industry, other agents, and even TV shows are all about how many houses you've sold and how good you look doing it.   My guest today said he bought into that definition of success at first too and only realized thirteen years into being a top agent that he was "doing it all wrong." Nowadays, his definition of success not only looks completely different but is something he can accomplish every day. Today he's sharing his inspiring story and how-to advice in hopes that you will also create your own personal version of what success looks like for YOU.   How you define success for your life is a choice you, and you alone, get to make.   And, despite what anyone else is doing, it doesn't have to include a power suit or a power pose if you don't want it to.   Listen in and be inspired by today's Confession of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent.    Be sure to listen until the very end when I tell you how you can get something super cool for free!

Today's episode is inspired by a listener who submitted a question wondering about the best place to take licensing classes.  Hear my unconventional advice plus three more important things to be thinking about BEFORE you get your real estate license.  If you or anyone you know is thinking about becoming a real estate agent, this is a must-listen episode!  For the show notes and to learn how you can submit a question to get answered on the podcast, go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcast.

Do you remember that Friends episode when Ross got a new couch and it got stuck on the stairs and he kept yelling PIVOT to Chandler and Rachel? PIVOT! Well, today I'm Ross telling you it's time to PIVOT your marketing if you want more clients. Not just WHAT you are saying, but WHERE you are saying it too. If you want clients coming to you, wanting to work with you vs. all the other options available to them (and they have more options than ever these days, from other agents to instant online offers, and many others), then you've got to be making these changes to your marketing now.  Today's episode will help you do that.  Go to AgentGradSchool.com for more!

No homes to sell your buyers?  You've got to do a lot more than wait for something to come on the MLS.  By the time a home comes on the MLS, everyone else has seen it too and then it's competition time.  Instead, get one step ahead and look for homes that aren't on the market yet.  Here are just three out-of-the-box ways to do that.  Learn more at AgentGradsShool.com/podcast/

There is no way to be a successful real estate agent when your mind is full of self-doubt. You can’t possibly get clients to want to work with you or service clients successfully if you allow yourself to sit in that place of negative self-talk. So, how do you turn feelings of constant self-doubt into being so fully confident that anything that comes your way, you know you’ll be okay? Listen in to today's episode and find out and learn even more at www.agentgradschool.com/confidence/

Zillow bought ShowingTime and the real estate industry went wild trying to figure out WHY.  What every agent and the real estate industry as a whole needs to be looking at is not just WHY but HOW Zillow was able to do it in the first place.  That is what matters the most and that is where we need to see change.  Learn more at www.AgentGradSchool.com/Zillow

Today's guest is known as The Tax Lady and she has been specializing in helping real estate agents do their taxes for over 40 years now. She really understands what us real estate agents face at tax time because she used to be one!    Whether you’re a veteran agent or you’re just starting out, you'll learn something new that will save you money, plus Linda somehow makes talking about taxes FUN. Also be sure to go to AgentGradSchool.com/taxprep to access to the guide Linda put together for the Agent Grad School Community called The Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Taxes. It will make sure you are getting every deduction you can, and that’s something you don’t want to miss!

Have you ever had these thoughts?  I’m a real estate agent I sell houses This should be easier I should be further along by now I’ve tried everything I don’t have enough money to ________.  These thoughts are pretty common, ones I have every day too.   But, if you believe them and take actions in your real estate business as though they are true, they are costing you money and keeping you right where you are. On today's episode, I'm walking you through why they might seem true but are not and what to tell yourself instead so you can get unstuck and get on with the life and real estate business you truly deserve.  Learn more at AgentGradSchoo.com

Whether you know it or not, when you decided to become a real estate agent, you also decided to become a business owner. What does that mean for a real estate agent?  Find out on today's episode and more at AgentGradSchool.com

For a while now, I've been thinking about how I can share updates and resources with you that don’t really fit in the podcast format, but also don’t really fit inside the course and resources you get when you become an agent grad school student either. Plus, not everyone is in the position to become a student right away. So, I’ve decided to roll out something new. It’s called the Agent Grad School Inner Circle. It’s completely free to join. You can go to AgentGradSchool.com/innercircle to join.

If you want a successful real estate business, you've got to answer the question why should someone choose YOU vs. every agent in your market. On today's episode, Brian Boero of 1000watt (the top marketing and branding agency for the real estate industry) is giving us his strategies for how to real estate agents can differentiate themselves so that your potential clients know why they should choose you.   

Listing presentations--something every agent is told they need to do and something no seller wants to sit through.  Stop doing them and do this three step listing appointment process instead.  And, hooray, say goodbye to listing presentations forever. 

New year, new goals, but how can you be sure you'll achieve them?  Use this 7 step process to make anything you want happen this year.  Get the free workbook to follow along at agentgradschool.com/2021

This time of year, I love a good "Best of The Year List" With that tradition in mind as this year comes to an end, here is my version of the "best of the year list"--a list of the five most downloaded episodes of 2020. These 5 episodes were downloaded more than 4,500 times this year! Have you missed any of these?  Here's your chance to catch up before the new year.   Go to AgentGradSchool.com/bestof2020 to get links to each episode!

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from one of our very successful Agent Grad School students, who is also a mother of three young children, so she knows a thing or two about being short on time! You’ll hear her talk honestly about her success journey, the challenges she faced, and how she found strategies that made her: a top agent in her marketplace; work smarter and more efficiently than ever before like a “nap time” warrior; embrace modern marketing techniques that attracts clients without having to be out of the house doing things like networking, doing pop-bys or having to be on the phone during dinner time calling expired listings; take control of her business to grow it in a way that matched her life with her family and within her community; stop comparing her real estate business to others; and find the perfect niche market for her (hint—other moms!). Whether you have kids or not, today’s episode will help you think about working smarter and more efficiently to not only reach your real estate goals, but make sure those goals include having a great life outside your business too.  Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com

As real estate agents, we are constantly getting sales calls telling us about the newest way to get all the clients you need.  How to know which are worth saying a hard no to and which are worth considering.  Listen in to today's episode and be able to make a quick and confident decision.  To learn more go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcast.

In celebration of my favorite holiday, I'm giving you a special bonus training today--a sneak peek inside a recent training I gave inside Agent Grad School. You'll be a fly on the wall listening into to our most recent bonus lesson of the month, The Thanksgiving Touch Point. And, no, there is no driving around dropping off pies or pies involved at all with this touch point! Hooray! The Thanksgiving Touch point is just one of the quarterly touch points I recommend our students implement in their businesses, but I think it's the most important one.   It's the opportunity to thank our clients for supporting us and our business, which is so crucial to do all year, but especially now.   I've been doing the Thanksgiving Touch point for over a decade now and I'm doing it again this year. I hope you'll join me. Learn more at https://agentgradschool.com/the-thanksgiving-touch-point/

On today's episode I'm debunking the myth real estate agents are told about paying for SEO and what to focus on instead. If you want to stop wasting time and only focus on modern marketing and business strategies that bring you clients, go to www.AgentGradSchool.com.

So many real estate agents only focus on buyers and sellers who want to move now, but there is a goldmine of potential clients who need your help to get ready.  This episode is all about how to keep in touch with leads and potential clients who aren't ready to move forward with buying or selling right now, but may in the future.  You've got to have a way to keep in touch with them that adds true value to their lives in between meeting you and them being ready.  We are not talking about market stats or decorating tips, but content that is much deeper and really helps educate and inspire them.  Learn how to do this in today's episode.  Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com/podcasts

Most people who end up on your website fall into one of two categories: 1. They are thinking about buying or selling but aren’t ready yet; OR 1. They have an immediate need to solve a problem you can help solve. You want to speak to both types of people on your website and offer each something they want, something of value to them in exchange for getting something of value for you–their name and email. Learn how on today’s episode of The Agent Grad School podcast.

Your website is the most powerful way to get leads and clients for your real estate business, but most real estate agents don't know how to use their website to generate leads.  There are 5 main reasons why most real estate agent website don't work to get clients.  Learn what those are and how to fix them on today's episode of the Agent Grad School podcast!   https://agentgradschool.com/getleadsfromyourownwebsite/

Your website holds the power to be the most important and most effective marketing tool you have available to you as a real estate agent. But, sadly, most real estate agents don’t know how to use their website to get leads and turn those leads into clients. Instead, they spend thousands of dollars a month on online leads, which is a slippery slope. If you stop paying for leads, the flow of leads stops. Instead, why not use your own website to bring you all the clients you want and need? Most real estate agents don’t think that’s possible, but it absolutely is. My website was the number one tool I used to create a $1M+ per year real estate business. Once I figured out how to use my website as my lead generation machine, I never needed to ask for clients or chase leads, and, frankly, why I never needed to use any sales-y lead generation tactics at all. But, here’s the thing… My website didn’t just sit there hoping and waiting for people to come to it, it was the workhorse of my business, so I didn’t have to be. It wasn’t just that I had a website, it was how I used my website to attract my ideal clients right to me and then I used my website to convert those leads into actual clients who wanted to work with me. But, how do you know whether your website is set up correctly to do its job for you–bring you leads and clients? Today’s episode is about the THREE jobs your website MUST be doing for you as a real estate agent and how to asses your website so you know whether it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing for you. I also discuss why having complete website control is super important as a real estate agent and what that even means. Listen in and start using your website as the lead generation tool it was always meant to be.  Learn more at AgentGradSchool.com.  

Success in real estate is 80% controlling your emotions and the games your mind will play on you. With that in mind, here are six guiding principles to help keep you going when the going gets tough.  Go to AgentGradSchool.com for more!  

Back in June, we did an episode called Addressing Racism in Real Estate and we also added three books to the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club list--Race for Profit, the Color of Law and The South Side.   On today's episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent, not only are we having the book club discussion for these three books, but equally as important as the history, we also talk about how racism is still very much alive in the real estate industry today and what we as real estate agents can do about it with my special guest, Harrison Beacher of Coalition Properties. 

My guest today grew his business from $12k to $180k in just nine months.   Less than a year later, he made it to $800k and he's been growing ever since. Along the way, he realized there was a specific formula for this level of business growth and he's sharing it with us on today's episode of Confessions of A Top Producing Real Estate Agent.  

This one is for all you brand new or soon-to-be agents out there. Remember that game Two Truths and A Lie you might have played as a kid or maybe as an icebreaker in the corporate world where someone makes three statements and you have to pick which ones are the truth and which one is the lie? Today's episode is a bit like that, but this time they are all TRUTHS about what it's like to be a real estate agent with one of them being a lie that people believe before they become an agent. Learn more truths about what it's like to be a real estate agent at AgentGradSchool.com.

Welcome to the third of four book club discussions during the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club 2020 edition: Turning Pro By Steven Pressfield. This book caused quite a controversy when we discussed it in our office. Some agents loved what the author said about what it took to “Turn Pro,” others said it went too far and created an unrealistic picture of what it takes. Turning Pro is not only the tale of this best-selling author’s journey from truck driver to best selling author to award-winning Hollywood screenwriter, but it also tells the tale of what the author says we all need to do to pass through the “messy and scary membrane” from living an amateur life to having a professional practice.

Whether you are a brand new agent, top agent or anywhere in between choosing the right brokerage is one of the most important decisions you can make and continue to make as your business grows. Find out how to make the best decision depending on where you are in your career on today's episode! Get all the show notes at www.agentgradschool.com/pickabroker/

One thing I’m hearing a lot from our students right now is: “The market is HOT. I’ve got buyers who want to buy now, but there are no houses to sell them. Everything is selling so quickly. Clients are getting outbid. I just need some inventory.” This is a GREAT problem to have. An even easier problem to solve. In today’s free training episode of Confessions of A Top Producing Real Estate Agent, The Agent Grad School Podcast, I outline the simple three-step process to get your clients the exact home they want, even when there is no inventory, no houses on the market, and even when they keep getting outbid.

We all deal with difficult clients sometimes.  It can be frustrating and make you want to quit or fire your client.  But, sometimes, difficult clients can be our biggest growth opportunities, allowing us to find new ways to help our clients reach their goals.  How do know the difference?  Listen in to today's episode and learn: --How to identify whether you have a difficult client who needs to be let go or just needs some creative problem solving --How to gracefully let them go and maybe even get a referral fee --How to help clients who are just stuck --Examples of what to say and when to say it --And much more! Go to the podcast page on Agent Grad School dot com for the full episode notes, free download and links to several resources we mentioned in this episode.

Welcome to the second of four book club discussions during the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club 2020 edition!  The July book was  So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love By Cal Newport. Listen in to hear how you can turn your passion for real estate into a career you love too. For the full episode notes, go to AgentGradSchool.com/podcast. 

Why most real estate agents never need a Facebook business page, what ONE reason to have a Facebook page and what to do instead to get more clients more consistently for your real estate business. 

When it comes to your real estate career, you really only have three choices—be an agent ON a team, be an agent who GROWS a team or be a SOLO agent who does their own thing. There are pros and cons to each option and there is no one-sized-fits-all “right” answer for every real estate agent, despite what you may be seeing or hearing elsewhere. So, how do you know which is the right choice for YOU? Grow a real estate team Often times growing a team is seen as a mark of success in the real estate industry, but is it the right move for YOU? Be on a real estate team Being on a team can be a great way for new agents to get clients quickly and also a great way for seasoned agents to get help with the parts of being a real estate agent they may not love. Be a solo agent I’ll be the first to tell you, there ain’t no shame in the solo agent game, but it’s crucial you get the help you need as your business grows so you don’t get burned out. On today’s episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent, learn more about what it means to be ON a team, what to keep in mind if you have decided to GROW a team, and how being a SOLO agent can still mean growing your business without growing a team. I’ll walk you through the pros and cons of each option, when to know when it’s time to change from one to another, and how to make the best decision for YOU no matter how long you’ve been in the business. Listen in to today’s free training episode and decide once and for all “to be or not to be”…on a team.

Listen in as I share a strategy that helps your buyer clients have more clarity about what they are looking for in an home so they end up with the perfect home more quickly and are happier along the road to find it. 

Learn the one thing every real estate agent must do before showing someone a house.

We'll be reading these three books this summer as part of the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club. The book club is FREE, so join on in! Find out what they are and how you can be part of the summer book club and what the three books are that we'll be reading.

There is a natural ebb and flow to the real estate market. Learn what it is and how to use it to your advantage for your own business and life and also learn how to explain this concept to your clients to help them in their home search or home sale.

How Tom Brady, Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah and Jeff Bezos Can Teach Us About Being Better Real Estate Agents 

Want to know the biggest indicator of how this month, this year and your entire real estate career will go for you?  Look at what you are telling yourself right now. 

Stop paying for online leads and starting creating them for yourself instead.  Learn the five steps in today's episode.  

Did you know the About page on any website is the most visited page after the home page? That means that one little page creates a HUGE opportunity to connect with your visitors and answer the question -- “Why should they choose YOU among all other real estate agents.” If your leads and clients feel a connection to you from reading the About page on your website, they will more likely want to continue the conversation about working together even further. Unfortunately, though, most real estate agents cram the bio on their About page with awards and accolades, and that’s not at all what your clients want to know about you. So, what do they want to know about instead? Your story. Learn how to tell your story to create a bio and an about page on your website that has clients wanting to work with you as their real estate agent. 

Are you a real estate agent who wants more clients? he secret is to market yourself to less people. This episodes walks you through why choosing a niche is crucial for every real estate agent and how to do it through an interview with one of our Agent Grad School students who did just that and is not getting more leads than ever before.

Learn marketing strategies you can do from home. 

Listen in as the very first student at Agent Grad School tells us what her last 10 years have been like, the results she's achieved and the obstacles she's had to overcome to become a $25 million producer without an assistant, a team, and buying leads.

In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about the perfect way to keep in touch with past clients during tax season. Not only does this touch point add value to your buyers and sellers who worked with you last year, but it is an easy marketing opportunity for your business since it: Keeps you on the top of your client’s mind; Makes you look organized and professional; and Brings in more business naturally by way of repeat clients and referrals. A win-win for both you and the client! Listen to today’s podcast episode to learn more details about every step of this touch point. And get the exact letters we've used and our students still use so you can quickly change them for you and your business and get them out to your clients!  

Today’s free training on Confessions of A Top-Producing Real Estate Agent is a must-hear if you like simple marketing strategies that cost you $0 to implement. We lovingly call this the “Is This Your Year?” Email -- and it’s one of our students’ favorite emails to send to their clients.

How to attract your ideal clients like a magnet right to you--clients you love working with, coming to you, seeking you out as the best real estate agent for them.    Once you've got these three steps down, you can then go on to apply them to any marketing tactic that you like--postcards, open houses, social media, your website, etc. These are unconventional methods and not what you'll hear elsewhere, but they work like a charm.  

The #1 goal of this podcast and Agent Grad School in general is to help real estate agents build successful, profitable and fun businesses—a businesses that not only brings them great success in their work life, but allows for the same in their personal life too.  This past year has been a HUGE growth year for Agent Grad School and me personally and I hope sharing what went well, what didn’t go well, and the decisions and actions I had to make in order to continue to have the business and life beyond my wildest dreams, will help agents as they build their own businesses.  

Today on Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent, I am interviewing one of the original graduates of the AgentGradSchool.com program, Lauren Kolazas. Lauren went from struggling to successful and tripled her income in just one year! Lauren’s story in real estate is not unlike many other agents. Although she held a real estate license for years, she was scared to truly commit to growing a successful business and would keep other jobs that stood in her way. Lauren says “At the time, I thought I was only saying I was in marketing because I didn’t like certain aspects of the job of being a real estate agent. Having hindsight now, I realize I was saying it to protect myself from failure.”  When she found herself unemployed, seven months pregnant and trying to decide between another 9-5 job with her baby in daycare all day or working for herself, she reached out to me.

I recently attended the Inman Connect Conference in San Francisco and while I was away, many agents were asking me whether it was something they should attend in the future.  There was also what the Inman daily newsletter seemed to make “breaking news” coming from the conference to every agents inbox, so many agents were asking me what it was like to be there, whether they should be and what some of the newsworthy announcements meant for their businesses. So, in an effort to answer this questions as well as answer the overall question, “should you take the time and money away from your business and family to attend one of the Inman Connect conferences,” listen to this episode of the Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent podcast!

In today’s episode of Confessions of a Top-Producing Real Estate Agent, my bookclub co-host, and Agent Grad School graduate, Amy Wease,  and I talk about the Entrepreneurial Real Estate Agent Book Club’s monthly book choice “So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love” by Cal Newport. The concept for this book came to the author, Cal Newport, as he was watching a Charlie Rose interview where he asks Steve Martin what advice he’d give other actors to become successful and Steve says, “it’s not what the want to hear.  What they want to hear is how to get an agent, how to get a TV show, but what they need to be successful is to be so good they can’t ignore you.” Those few words not only launched an entire book, but also is the topic of today’s podcast.  How can we be so good we can’t be ignored AND how can we avoid passion burnout? Full show notes at https://agentgradschool.com/008

If you want to be wildly successful in real estate there is one thing that you have to do, first and foremost. Not doing this one thing is the biggest mistakes I see almost every single real estate agent make. If I could shout from the rooftops and tell every single new or struggling real estate agent in all the land the ONE thing that can change everything for the better for them it's to do this. https://agentgradschool.com/007

Every, single real estate agent should be able to attract more clients than they know what do with...but unfortunately, most agents don't. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of real estate agents leave the business after only being licensed for two years because they don't have enough clients or income! Not only should every real estate agent have more clients than they know what to do with, but these clients should be seeking YOU out, not you chasing them down begging them to work with you.  Homey shouldn't play that... Find the full show notes at https://agentgradschool.com/realestateagenthavemoreclients/

Amy Wease was my very first agent at the brokerage I started back in 2012, Dwell Residential Brokerage. Amy is featured today as part of the How I Did It series. Amy was the catalyst for me creating Agent Grad School, and I am so excited to have her here to talk about her career in real estate.   Amy shares how she noticed that Jennifer was doing things differently and wanted to do what she was doing. Amy reached out to Jennifer, she learned Jennifer’s system and her life and real estate career has completely changed. She now has a plan and system in place for real estate and her life. She shares her love of real estate, and how she went from fear to fearless while building a sustainable business.   You can find Amy here: Amy Wease   Show Notes   [01:42] In 2011, Jennifer had just opened Dwell Residential Brokerage and Amy and Jennifer had only done one deal together. Amy reached out and called Jennifer, and Jennifer feels like it changed her life for the better. [03:22] Amy was struggling to get her business going and she remembered seeing Jennifer give a client a huge folder of information. She had never seen anyone do that. [04:33] Amy thought Jennifer was doing something right with buyers and she decided to see if Jennifer could help her get her business going. [05:29] Amy became the first agent, and Jennifer wanted to show her how to do things right. [05:59] Jennifer had so many clients and business that she needed help, but she wanted her clients to go through the same process and experience that they would go through with her. [06:45] She wanted to train Amy on every small little step, and she felt committed to Amy and wanted to help her succeed and prove to her that she could do it. [07:41] Amy was smart and a hard worker, and Jennifer knew that if she was willing to do the steps should be a huge success. [08:00] This is why Jennifer created Agent Grad School Buyer Edition.   [09:41] Amy's mom suggested real estate. Amy was determined to be a writer, but she finally decided to try real estate. She got a license and then didn't know where to go from there. [11:30] Amy worked in new construction and did well. In 2007, she sold 34 million dollars of real estate. [12:23] There was a vivacious environment. There were a lot people counting their chickens before they hatched, but his haunted people after the bust. Amy was doing a good job, but she didn't have a system for her client database or taxes or other important business building systems. [14:02] Jennifer's business grew substantially during the bust. [20:03] Amy wanted to do what Jennifer is doing. She was excited to work at Dwell. Jennifer focused on clients and shared how she did it. They had the same client focused core beliefs. [21:45] Jennifer said she would train Amy if she promised to do everything she said. She wanted Amy to put clients through Jennifer's process. [22:39] The training sounded like a lot of stuff with a lot of steps. You have to be willing and open to go through the training. Having a plan is what helped her. Practicing the system and building results helped with her confidence. The system actually worked. [26:19] It's not just building confidence for the client it's also about building confident in the agent. If something doesn't work, it not a right fit. There is no reason to beat yourself up. Clear steps with results. [30:22] Things started to change and Amy started to feel like a professional. Now working with clients is second nature to her. [32:14] Amy's sales have grown over the last five years that she has been at Dwell. [32:56] She stays in touch with people in a systematic way to grow her business. [33:36] Amy has even prepaid her taxes this year. [34:32] She is also investing in a real 401k this year. She sat down with an investment manager. She is looking towards the future with a 20 year trajectory. [35:46] Real estate has ups and downs, so you have to have business systems in place. Downturns weed out the strong who survive. The person who has built a strong foundation. [37:34] How the steps insure that people remember you when the market goes down. [38:59] Each business needs to be built with a strong concrete foundation. [41:14] If you want to have a sustainable business, Agent Grad School is worth every bit. [42:52] Amy created a real business. Her numbers were surprisingly good. There is freedom in not worrying about paying the bills and being able to do or buy fun things. Thinking about what you are bringing to the table financially and emotionally. The whole thing has been a completely different and fearless shift for Amy. Having the fundamentals in place work for her.   Links and Resources: Agent Grad School Buyer Edition Join the Entrepreneurial Real Estate Agent Book Club Jennifer@AgentGradSchool.com   Stick around and stay connected by subscribing to Confessions of Top Producing Real Estate Agent on iTunes. Head over to Agent Grad School and sign up for my Free Weekly Training. You can also stay connected on Instagram or Facebook.

I share my story in this first episode of the How They Did It series where I’ll be highlighting different agent’s stories. We’ll be talking about how they got from where they were to where they are today. We’ll talk about how they changed their businesses and applied the things that we are teaching here at Agent Grad School. I am sharing my story of how I went from rock-bottom to millionaire real estate agent, and why I created Agent Grad School. The number one question I have been getting asked is why start another business when you already have a thriving real estate business.  In this episode, I set the record straight and answer the question of why I created Agent Grad School. I’m also going to share a few things that I hope you can directly apply to your own business. I share the pivotal question that I asked myself when going from struggling and rock-bottom to making over a million dollars a year selling real estate. I’m also going to share three strategies that I applied to my business that turned out to be the cog that turned the wheel:   1.) The riches are in the niches 2.)  Choosing a unique selling proposition (usp), which means being able to answer the question, “why should someone choose you, among all other options, including doing nothing at all.” 3.)  Have a weekly email that went out to these clients that I chose and attracted so that there would be consistent contact with the information they needed that they couldn’t get anywhere else.   Doing these three things, at the same time, is what changed my business and I started to get clients seeking me out.  I never had to pay for an online lead, but instead learned how to create my own leads for free.    Take a listen to the entire episode now and I’d love for you to subscribe and even review it over on iTunes too!    I hope you can apply these lessons to your own business and it helps you feel like you have a magic wand that you can just move anything separating you from where you are to where you want to be.  That’s how it feels once you get this all figured out.    Show Notes   [04:12] What I was doing before becoming a real estate agent and why I expected the same immediate success when I became an agent.     [08:30] My first home-time buying experience was so life-changing and necessary for me to be where I am at today. Sometimes the worst experiences turn out to be exactly what we need to get from where we were to where we are today. [09:01] Even if something terrible happens, try to use it for good. [09:50] Buying your first house should be the best experience. I found a need and though I could fill the need. [11:07] Instead, I couldn't get clients. Finally, one of my friends bought a house with me. I was in real estate for two years and only sold one house. I was going to the office every day and was kind of like a glorified receptionist. [12:43] I asked every agent I worked with what they did, and I tried everything. The only place I was making money was at Rock Bottom Brewery. I was l hitting rock bottom in every way, and I was at literally at Rock Bottom every night. [13:56] I had good intentions, but nothing was working. [14:25] I sat down and decided that I either needed to figure it out or go back to a PR job. [15:03] The question I asked myself that changed everything.  This is the question to ask if yourself too if you struggling in your business. [16:12] I knew I had to stop looking at what everyone else was doing. What everyone else was doing wasn't working for me or the other majority of agents. [16:48] How I went from feeling like being “successful” in real estate was unattainable to figuring out my answer to that question creating clarity for me to know exactly how to be successful (and you can use this same strategy to go from overwhelm to clear too). [17:58] I decided to look outside the real estate industry at other ways for me to get clients. [19:13] The things I was learning were blowing my mind. I felt like I was learning secrets of marketing that actually worked. I became obsessed and read every book and listened to every tape (there were no podcasts back then, lol!). I was also noticing patterns, and I implemented those things. [20:42] I started marketing online and slowly but surely things started to work. It was like a marketing snowball. [21:09] Implementation, consistency, and making adjustments until things work for you. [21:41] I learned that the riches are in the niches and the idea of a unique selling proposition from Dan Kennedy. [22:04] Being able to answer the question of why someone should choose you over all options including doing nothing and having a niche will change your business. [22:36] The third concept was having a weekly email to a list of people. [23:00] Once I heard and understood these concepts, I still had to learn how to apply them on a consistent basis. [23:28] I started studying and seeing what everyone else was doing. I started to see patterns again. [24:01] Four years into a real estate career and I had sold 2 houses. [24:23] I chose a niche and answered the question of why someone should choose me. [24:46] First time home buyers were the only people who I knew more than because I had already bought a house. Plus, if I can make it a fun experience, why wouldn't they use me. [25:17] This gave me the confidence to keep going. All I needed was eight or ten people. [25:53] I resisted choosing a niche, but it makes all the difference. [26:36] I had my target audience, and I knew why they should choose me. You need to know who and how? [27:52] Who, how, and why they should choose me and why they should buy. Putting these concepts together and my business took off. I want from tips to almost $80,000 a month. [28:56] Niche down who you are marketing to and your business will change forever. [29:07] I wanted to create a brokerage that specialized in first-time home buyers. I created Dwell Residential Brokerage. [30:14] I attracted clients and agents who wanted to work with those clients. [30:46] In 2011, I was doing more business than ever. Agents wanted to learn and I hired ones who generally wanted to niche and do right by their clients. [31:34] I had to train my step-by-step system to all of the new agents. I knew I couldn't keep doing this over and over, so I created a recorded module system and taught the agents who joined my broker, which at the time was Dwell Residential Brokerage, now Dwell Residential, an RLAH Company [33:29] When I gave an agent a lead, they had to put the lead through the buyer edition program. Eight modules of exactly what to do and create a one of a kind experience. [34:17] We have an email that we send to each lead. Then we have an initial consultation. [34:33] This program ended up becoming Agent Grad School. [34:55] I realized seeing agents go from being new or struggling to thriving was something that I loved. [35:45] It wasn't my intention to grow a large brokerage. I'm good at training, not managing. [36:21] I partnered with a company to help me manage the brokerage to free up my time to share Agent Grad School with agents across the country. [37:14] I started teaching and mentoring other agents what I was teaching at my office. I love helping people take something that seems impossible and showing them how to make it possible for yourself. [38:12] Get the step by step roadmap and then have the courage and perseverance to do it and know how to adjust and get back on course. [39:17] The information here is never theory or fluff. I have so much exciting stuff coming up. Stick around and stay in touch.   Links and Resources: Rich Dad Poor Dad Rock Bottom Brewery Tony Robbins Dan Kennedy Shift Happens Dwell Residential Brokerage Sign Up for Free Weekly Training Jennifer@AgentGradSchool.com   Stick around and stay connected by subscribing to Confessions of Top Producing Real Estate Agent on iTunes. Head over to Agent Grad School and sign up for my Free Weekly Training. You can also stay connected on Instagram or Facebook.

My friend and colleague Amy Wease is here to talk about how to use the book The Paradox of Choice to help your buyers make better decisions faster. I started a book club with the agents that I work with because every day I reference certain books. The concepts in the books we talk about can be applied to our lives, our businesses, and with our clients. If you want to help your mindset and grow your business, you may want to join us in the book club!  You can join here. It's free and it's fun and it will help your business grow! Every month, I choose a book that has profoundly changed the way I think and do business. Then a month later, I have a conversation about the book. Join and you will get your first book club pick right away and then the discussion will be four weeks later. You can find Amy here: Amy Wease Show Notes [03:59] How this book helped me to become a better decision maker, and it helped me to help my clients become better decision makers. [04:21] We must first narrow our options then we can make a decision. [05:19] How having more options makes decision making more difficult. When I see clients struggle with decision making, I actually send them the book. [06:06] You don't have to look at every house and every neighborhood. We can start by casting a wide net, but buying a house is a process in decision making. It is my job to help clients narrow their choices right away. [07:19] Applying the principles in the book has helped people make decisions better and faster. [08:08] How having too many choices make people shut down and stop. [08:22] If you see clients struggling, it is time to start narrowing the choices. [08:40] How to create a framework to help people make decisions. [08:57] Budget, location, and criteria such as bedrooms etc. Organizing decision points in these categories makes it easier to make a decision. [10:04] Picking one thing that doesn't change and then narrow from there. [12:30] The danger of having too many decisions points and using the framework to narrow things down. Ask the client how long they want to live in the property? [13:29] Why Amy decided to join the book club.  The book choice seemed unexpected because it wasn't real estate specific. This sparked her curiosity. [15:14] How to help clients feel confident and happy about the home buying process. [17:02] Amy's mom didn't understand the connection of reading this book for real estate purposes. How the book helps us understand how people make decisions and the pitfalls they run into and how to apply it to home buying. [19:38] How looking outside the real estate industry to be better at our jobs. We are here to help clients for life and show that we are different. [20:44] Maximizers versus the satisfiers. There are two types of people. Satisfiers make decisions fairly quickly. Maximizers have to have the best of the best. They may focus on status and what other people are doing. [22:23] No one is exclusively one or the other, but understanding the concepts helps us understand what the client is going through and what their wants and needs are. This helps agents to not waste time when all of the boxes need to be checked. [24:48] If you keep hitting a dead end, you may be dealing with a maximizer. It helps you to recognize it and know what you are dealing with. [25:30] The way people make decisions in other aspects of their lives also affects how they will make decisions about buying a house. [26:19] How the idea of more is better is constantly promoted. Even though, more choices can be overwhelming. [27:12] Constantly wondering if you can do better and how that can hurt home buyers. [28:39] Getting what you want when you become crystal clear about what you want. [29:23] The importance of being upfront and honest when there are trade offs. [30:04] The concept of the imagined alternative. It is an agents job to cut this off by adding clarity to the home search. Jennifer sends them a list of houses that have sold which can eliminate the imagined alternative or let them know that it exists through waiting. [33:23] How clients always ask the what if question. Giving evidence and using the resources you have at hand helps give clients a sense of peace [35:01] Jennifer wants every real estate agent to read this book and understand how more choices leads to bad decision making. [35:35] Amy found that taking the client through the process and being more than just a house hunter has had a positive impact on her clients lives. These people start making decisions better and faster. This new way of thinking even helps people become happier. Links and Resources: The Paradox of Choice Join the Entrepreneurial Real Estate Agent Book Club Jennifer@AgentGradSchool.com

This is part two of two of how to plan for a successful year in real estate. If you haven’t listed to part one yet or read those show notes, start there. As that episode and show notes explains, there are three steps to planning for a successful year in real estate. Step One: Where are you now? We covered this step in part one of this episode. The goals of step one is to figure out where you are currently. Think of it as point A on the roadmap. In order to figure out where you are going, you must “come clean” and be honest about where you are currently. Only from that point, where you are right now, can you chart the course and create a roadmap from where you are to where you want to be. Step Two: Where do you really want to be one year from now? This is where this episode begins. We discuss what they really want for this upcoming year. Not how they are going to get there yet, but what they really actually want. Most importantly, though, we ask why. Why do you want that to be the outcome one year from now? What they really want is not just how many houses they want to sell. How do they want to feel. What if they want to be able to sell the same number of homes, but do it in less time or only working one weekend day? I’ve experienced it time and time again and see it in the agents I coach. We think we want something, we focus on the “thing,” the goal. “I want to sell four homes a month,” but then when we look at the why or we look at what they really want, “so I can spend more time with my kids” we run into conflicts. Sorting out what you really want and why leads to more specific goals that are often times easier to accomplish than we think. Step Three: What is the easiest, most direct route to get there? Sometimes the way we think we are going to get somewhere might not be the only way. Just like a roadmap when you are driving from point a to point b, there are several routes to get to the destination, some longer than others, some more direct. Some may be more miles, but you go more quickly, like on the superhighway vs. the back country roads. So, we look at the specific steps of how they want to get where they are going. Is how they think they can accomplish what they really want truly going to get them where they want to be? Is it the only way? Is there an easier/less expensive/less stressful way to accomplish the same true end goal they are looking to achieve? In part two, this podcast episode, we take you through how to plan for your year ahead. How to know exactly what’s possible and achievable for the next twelve months. Want to take these same steps to plan for a successful next year in real estate? I have a guide that can help you. You can get that here.

In order to figure out where you are going, you must “come clean” and be honest about where you are currently. Only from that point, where you are right now, can you chart the course and create a roadmap from where you are to where you want to be. From that perspective, at the end of every year, I sit down with each of the agents I work with and we do a business planning session for the following year. This planning session involves three steps: Step One: Where are you now? We start by pulling up the document we created for them at last year’s meeting. That document is full of notes, goals and commitments we wrote down for them for the year we just went through. We review and remember what they wanted one year ago and how far they’ve come. We discuss and celebrate the big and little wins they accomplished. This defines where they are currently. Point A in the roadmap. Step Two: Where do you really want to be one year from now? We discuss what they really want for this upcoming year. Not how they are going to get there yet, but what they really actually want. Most importantly, though, we ask why. Why do you want that to be the outcome one year from now? What they really want is not just how many houses they want to sell. How do they want to feel. What if they want to be able to sell the same number of homes, but do it in less time or only working one weekend day? I’ve experienced it time and time again and see it in the agents I coach. We think we want something, we focus on the “thing,” the goal. “I want to sell 4 homes a month,” but then when we look at the why or we look at what they really want, “so I can spend more time with my kids” we run into conflicts. Sorting out what you really want and why leads to more specific goals that are often times easier to accomplish than we think. Step Three: What is the easiest, most direct route to get there? Sometimes the way we think we are going to get somewhere might not be the only way. Just like a roadmap when you are driving from point a to point b, there are several routes to get to the destination, some longer than others, some more direct. Some may be more miles, but you go more quickly, like on the superhighway vs. the back country roads. So, we look at the specific steps of how they want to get where they are going. Is how they think they can accomplish what they really want truly going to get them where they want to be? Is it the only way? Is there an easier/less expensive/less stressful way to accomplish the same true end goal they are looking to achieve? In this podcast episode, I take you through step one with one of the newer agents in my office. This is part one of our planning session, focusing on the past year. You’ll love hearing his perspective on how although he didn’t reach his sales goals, this year was a huge turning point for him and how he gained the knowledge and confidence that will change his business forever. Want to take these same steps to plan for a successful next year in real estate? I have a guide that can help you. You can get that here.