Category Archives: Commercial Real Estate

Join us for an engaging, educational and fun roundtable with the CRE Social Media Breakfast Club!

We will be discussing the power of social media with true stories of success and failure.  Learn about all aspects of social media with real-life examples, discussion and debate.  Come learn how these CRE joe’s have used social media to expand their network and grow their business brands…and how you can too!

With special guests:

Hosted and Sponsored by Matthew Smith and RealNex!

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Date: January 21, 2015
Time: 12:00 p.m. Eastern
Event: CRE Social Media Breakfast Club - Free Webinar
Topic: CRE Social Media Breakfast Club - Free Webinar
Sponsor: RealNex
Public: Public
Registration: Click here to register.
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Increase your Prospecting Effectiveness by Utilizing these 11 Triggers

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When an emotion is triggered in your brain, your nervous systems responds by creating feelings in your body (what many people refer to as a “gut feeling”) and certain thoughts in your mind. ~ Mary Lamia, Ph.D., clinical psychologist

From 2002 – 2004, I was stationed in Georgia.  One day, a door to door salesman came to our door selling a “world-changing” vacuum cleaner.  The first thing he did was offer me a free hat because I had opened the door.  He then went into his pitch.  I politely interrupted telling him we weren’t interested.

Maximize your prospecting with emotional triggers

Maximize your prospecting with emotional triggers

He then asked me a second request.  Would I allow him to give me a demonstration?  If nothing else, he would clean part of our house for us.  I said yes.

One hour later, he was still in my home.  Truth be told, I’ve never been more impressed with a vacuum cleaner.  The only thing that kept me from buying it was it was very expensive.  We simply didn’t have the money.

This salesman did a fantastic job using emotional triggers to get a desired result from me.  And it worked…almost.  Emotional triggers fall in the realm of evolutionary psychology.  Essentially, triggers are events and tactics that “trigger” certain emotions.  If you understand emotional triggers, you can use them to your advantage.

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Wow!  Because of the overwhelming demand and the fact that the first session filled up so quickly, we have decided to open a second session of the free webinar:  “How to Thrive as a New to Business Broker”

Free Webinar:  Join me and Rod Santomassimo, founder and president of the Massimo Group, as we share the keys to thriving in Commercial Real Estate as a new to the business broker.  In this webinar, we will show you:

  • Keys to success for new to business brokers
  • What it takes to create a solid start to a prosperous career
  • Specific strategies and tactics that will help you generate early income

This webinar is guaranteed to give you actionable tactics you can immediately apply to your business.  If you are a new to the business broker, or the broker/owner who employs them, you want to be on this webinar.

Plus, we will be announcing two special offers to attendees.

Join hundreds already registered for the call, and I look forward connecting with you soon!

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Date: January 23, 2015
Time: 3:00 pm Eastern
Event: 2nd Session | Free Webinar: How to Thrive as a New to the Business Broker
Topic: How to Thrive as a New to Business Broker
Sponsor: The Massimo Group
Venue: Live Webinar
Public: Public
Registration: Click here to register.

Free Webinar:  Join me and Rod Santomassimo, founder and president of the Massimo Group, as we share the keys to thriving in Commercial Real Estate as a new to the business broker.  In this webinar, we will show you:

  • Keys to success for new to business brokers
  • What it takes to create a solid start to a prosperous career
  • Specific strategies and tactics that will help you generate early income

This webinar is guaranteed to give you actionable tactics you can immediately apply to your business.  If you are a new to the business broker, or the broker/owner who employs them, you want to be on this webinar.

Plus, we will be announcing two special offers to attendees.

Join over 150 already registered for the call, and I look forward connecting with you soon!

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Date: January 23, 2015
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm Eastern
Event: Free Webinar: How to Thrive as a New to the Business Broker
Topic: Free Webinar: How to Thrive as a New to the Business Broker
Venue: Live Webinar
Public: Public
Registration: Click here to register.

Webinar:  I am excited about being the presenter during tomorrow’s webinar hosted by Matthew Smith of RealNex featuring the Massimo Group – History is a Great Forecaster – Identifying Future Income Opportunities.  In this webinar you will learn:

  1. Methods of collecting historical data
  2. How to use tools already at your disposal to become the recognized expert in your market
  3. How to use historical transactional data to identify trends
  4. How to use market data to close for more meetings

Join over 500 already registered, and I will see you tomorrow!

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Date: January 14, 2015
Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm Eastern
Event: Free Webinar: History is a Great Forecaster of Future Income Possibilities
Topic: History is a Great Forecaster - Identifying Future Income Opportunities
Sponsor: RealNex
Venue: Online Webinar
Public: Public
Registration: Click here to register.
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How You Can Use the 7 Levels of Personal Development to Become More Valuable

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You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.  ~ Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

I love this quote.  I was listening to Tony Robbins this morning while working out, and he said something to the tune of, “If you want to make more money, become more valuable.”  This is what I’m talking about when I write about personal development.  How can we become more valuable?  In our careers?  In our relationships?  In life in general?

Photo by iStock.com

Photo by iStock.com

I may have told this story before, but my 2nd grade teacher changed my life.  I used to cut up my worksheets and send notes to the girls in class.  Mrs. Hastings moved my desk behind hers separating me from the rest of the class.  She then pulled the best out of me.  She introduced me to what achievement felt like, and I liked it!

The Marine Corps introduced me to what excellence felt like.  They demanded it.  Boot camp was the first time I experienced a culture of excellence.  Until then, I’d done just enough to achieve and meet expectations.  Exposure to the Marine culture taught me how to dream about what was possible.  I’m so thankful to have had that experience.  It unlocked a passion in me for personal development – or becoming more valuable.

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The 30 Tools I Use For Productivity, Blogging, Social Media, & Travel (18 are free!)

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I don’t know how many times I’ve said – “I wish I had more hours in the day!”

I’m sure you’ve had that sentiment as well.  Alas, 24 hours a day is all we get.  That isn’t going to change.  What can change is how much you can squeeze out of each hour.

30tools 3d cover

Before I go on, I want to make this point.  I’m not advocating becoming a workaholic – or even feeding that addiction.  I’m talking about getting more work done faster.  I’m talking about being able to have more time for what really matter.  Time for your family.  Time to take care of your health.  Time for self-development.  Time for care for your spiritual health.

Some of the most valuable posts I’ve ever read have been on the subject of productivity.  I consume that kind of information.  Everything I’ve learned about productivity apps has come from others or just tinkering with them.  All I’ve learned about traveling efficiently comes from experience and what others have shared with me.

So here is my resource list of the 30 tools I use on a regular basis to squeeze more out of every day.  I’m going to give you the highlights here, and you will be able to download it at the end of the post.

Productivity

When I did my reader survey last month, the subject of productivity was the number one topic of choice.  In this section, I give you my favorite free and paid tools for increasing your productivity.  And here’s a little hint – 1password and Tripit are completely awesome.  Awesome!

Blogging

Blogging has revolutionized my online presence.  It is not easy to do.  But it is so worth it.  The key to blogging well over time is to systematize it.  I have a few templates that I use for most posts.  It saves me a ton of time.  These are the tools I use to build my email list, optimize for SEO, etc.  These tools will save you a ton of time and allow you to maximize your ROI.

Social Media

I’m almost sick of social media.  I believe most people have accepted that social media provides value – sometimes a ton of it.  Though I’m sick of talking about, I use it everyday.  And if you’ve never heard or used BufferApp, you need to check this section out.

Travel

I traveled a ton for work last year.  I think I was on 65 airplanes.  If there is one thing I’m good at, it is navigating airports.  Traveling is a drain on your energy no matter who you are.  Being able to minimize the frustrations of travel while remaining productive saved me a tremendous amount of stress.  These are the tools I used to do it.

Bonus Section:  Recommended Books

As a bonus, I’ve included some of my favorite books in the following categories:

  • Platform building
  • Productivity
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Stewardship
  • Parenting
  • Marriage
  • Commercial Real Estate
  • And others…

These are books that I’ve read and personally recommend.  I’m no expert in any of these subjects.  However, these are books that have helped me grow in these areas.

To download your copy of this free resource list, simply click the button below!

Download Your Free Resource List

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11 Benefits theBrokerList Provides the CRE Industry

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TheBrokerList is a powerful and free tool for CRE professionals. I asked its founder, Linda Day Harrison to share with my audience its benefits. She has been gracious enough to do so. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.

First of all, theBrokerList site is FREE to its Broker and CRE Professional members and is designed to provide a place for  Brokers and CRE Professionals to hang their “digital shingle”. Our site enables our  members to transact business with verified colleagues, supported financially by the tBL Marketplace Partners.  That is the win-win theBrokerList seeks to achieve.

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The database within theBrokerList covers all CRE segments, affiliations, organizations, practice focus types, corporate networks and geographic areas, plus theBrokerList permits the inclusion of any size national organization’s local chapters, no matter how small or large.  An organization simply provides us with their member list and those members are pre-approved! In addition to supporting the search for potential colleagues and deals in different markets, this enables tBL members of these organizations and networks to utilize the powerful broadcast email feature to share HAVES and WANTS of theBrokerList platform, with laser-pointed precision to only those colleagues who wish to receive those emails. This provides extensive benefits to local or even national organizations.

tBL-Icon-512x512To help provide B2B resources for leasing, brokerage, property management and consulting, you can find a wide variety of commercial real estate experts on theBrokerList within all of the industry disciplines.  The difference we make and the added value we bring is that we verify that our members are real people (not fake profiles), and verify those members are active in commercial real estate.

Our verification process protects the quality of our site and creates the only free resource of its kind that is completely focused on only commercial real estate.

11 Benefits Provided by theBrokerList

  1. Post your professional PROFILES (backgrounds, business focus, etc.)
  2. Post, Export or Upload HAVES ( your listings for sale or lease)
  3. Post WANTS (your targets, or your client’s targets, for acquisition or lease)
  4. Post TRANSACTIONS (your completed deals you wish to note for the record)
  5. Unlimited team members, admins and property posts can be added
  6. HTML friendly text fields, and YouTube embeds on posts
  7. Unlimited URL fields and types (hyperlinks to your company or personal website, blogs, Loopnet, Showcase, and all Social Media: like Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, , etc.)
  8. Broadcast email lists automatically created for your Affiliations and Organizations
  9. HTML code for ease in posting to Craigslist, or any other online system
  10. tBL email message tool to enable selected contacts to be emailed
  11. Saved Broker and Search features

The benefits and advantages of these tools to help grow and expand the businesses of tBL members are numerous, and many of these functions have important meaning and correlate well with your social media plan and strategies.

For the more advanced social media and blogging members, direct access to the well-read tBL blog is advisable as our members can easily post their blogs on the site and be part of our exciting and constant flow of editorial content directed to a large audience of commercial real estate professionals.

A daily HAVES and WANTS email blast is also distributed, which  currently includes ALL of our member posts.  Our members’ listings are emailed to all subscribers of those lists as well.

tBL is very customer service focused.  We always answer our phones and do our best to help our members and Marketplace Partners.  We frequently discuss marketing strategies, and offer ideas on how our members can improve their image, their brand or any topic they wish to discuss pertaining to commercial real estate today. Let theBrokerList be your “BFF” and join us or ask your local organization or chapter to partner with us.  Once you do, make sure to use all of the features tBL provides to help you grow your business.

We look forward to meeting you and we kindly ask that you suggest our site to other commercial real estate professionals.  theBrokerList relies on word of mouth, and we verify all prospective members as we do not want non-CRE folks trying to join.  The more Broker and CRE Professional members we have, the more useful the site will be for everyone.  Our team is dedicated to doing the best job we can to keep our database accurate and our features useful to a wide group in CRE.

Photo credit:”Pack Of Money” by Gualberto107 FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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How to Systematically Pursue Your Former Clients in These 6 Steps

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At the end of this post, you can download a worksheet that will help you put these 6 steps into instant application.

As the father of 3 young kids, I’m always finding things in the couch.  Ninja sword.  Costume jewelry.  Goldfish (the snack).  I never know what I’m going to find when I place my hand between the cushions.

Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto.com

Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto.com

Then there is the wonderful experience that comes with winter.  You put on your coat for the first time since last year and find a $20 in the pocket.  I love that feeling.  Found money.

Your previous clients are like the couch cushions and the $20 long forgotten in a winter coat.  We neglect them.  Then every so often, we lower our hands between the cushions.  I submit that you intentionally pursue these past clients.

You can re-engage your former clients by following these 6 steps.

6 Steps to Re-engage Your Past Clients

  1. Make a list – As in, make a list of all your former or inactive clients.
  2. Scrub the list – You can choose who you would like to work with.  Pursue only the clients that you’d like to work with again.
  3. Prepare – Do your homework.  Be informed.  Have they won an award recently?  Did their daughter get married?  Run a google search.  Check out their LinkedIn profile.
  4. Call 2 a week on Friday afternoons – Call 2 on the list every week.  Do it on a Friday afternoon when the week is winding down.  Make it a habit.  If you would do this every week all year, then you would contact about 100 people that have already done business with you.  These are former clients who have hired you before and actually pulled the trigger on a deal.
  5. Have something of value for them – Don’t just call them to check in.  Maximize this opportunity by having something of value to offer them.  Maybe a building sold by one of their properties and you have comp info for them.  Maybe it has been 3 years since anyone evaluated their portfolio.  Offer to do it for them.
  6. Close for the meeting – Keep in mind the you have an existing relationship.  You should know if they love to golf or would rather sit down for a quick cup of coffee.  Use that information to your advantage and be strategic.  But don’t forget to close for the meeting.  Nothing is more effective than getting face to face.

Question: So what are you going to do now? I challenge you to make your list and then do three things: first, schedule a task on your calendar for every Friday; second, send this article to a friend whom you know needs to read it; and third, tell me when you are done by leaving a comment below. You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Download Free Worksheet

 

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