Saturday, June 5, 2010

Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith
Last month, I attended a Craig Proctor real estate Super Conference in Los Angeles. I had been reluctant to go, due to time and money constraints. Over the course of the past six years, I believed I had devoted enough time and money to my real estate education.

I had joined all the local real estate associations, studied with many national speakers, read every book I could find on real estate investment, worked for local real estate investor and national speaker Greg Pinneo for eight months as his personal assistant, got my real estate broker’s license, jumped into the game and started making deals. Some years were really good years financially, yet too many others were not. I had not found the consistency and discipline to provide a dependable income year after year. I knew I had to do something different.

That something different may very well be the education I got in Los Angeles – and that I will continue to receive in the coaching program for which I have signed on for the next 12 months. Here I have discovered the thorough system(s) of training and education that have been sorely lacking in both the real estate and real estate investing worlds. Here is the opportunity to learn systems, scripts, and marketing approaches that work, from one of the world’s top real estate practitioners. His testimonials come from students from around North America, many of whom are now coaches for his training program (while running their own thriving real estate businesses).

These successes are documented examples from agents who are the top producers in their cities, in their companies, and some worldwide. They are doing millions of dollars worth of transactions, many handling over 500 transactions per year, with business systems that allow them the freedom to work a business, and not a 24/7 job. They have both financial independence and the elusive freedom that comes from a business that operates whether they are physically present or not.

In the coaching program, I will have an opportunity to work with and to get to know these successful entrepreneurs – at a level that exceeds what has been available to me in the local community. And they will teach me how to do the same with my business, in what is basically a franchise approach to real estate using consistency, systems, and formulas that work. Others have invested time and money into developing these, so I do not need to reinvent the wheel.

Like the best of all successful models, this one is all about fundamentals. Fundamentals I should have learned when I began in this industry. Coaching is expensive, and it is a leap of faith to spend money in this economy. But our keynote speaker at the conference, Gary Keller - founder of Keller Williams Realty (the fastest growing real estate company in the country), urged us to invest in mentors/coaches, and lifelong learning. He continues to pay $250,000 per year to be coached by his mentor! As he says, the past is history, and the present is where I start. Today I will begin building the tomorrow that I want to have.

Stay tuned. I’ll keep you posted in this blog on my progress using this new system of real estate marketing and business development….

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