Luxury Clues

How to Expand Your Luxury Real Estate Database Using Social Media

Whether it's Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any of the other social media platforms, expanding your luxury real estate referral database is now easier than ever before. In the past, we had to spend thousands of dollars on print advertising to generate two or three high quality leads. Or you may have spent hundreds of hours holding open houses, knocking on doors, or cold calling prospects. As often as not, your call, mailer, or door knock was unwelcome.

In contrast, the people who are engaging in social media are eager to have a conversation with you as a person--not as a Realtor (at least not initially.) You will NOT connect with luxury real estate buyers and sellers by telling them how many luxury properties you have sold. Instead, the route to connection is shared interests. For example, are you a "foodie"--someone who loves fine food and wonderful wine? If so, you can use a site www.Monitter.com to see who is on Twitter tweeting about food and wine. You don't need a Twitter account to read what they're saying, but you do need one if you want to join in the conversation. Other topics you could plug in to locate high end clients include golf, travel, antique cars, tennis, sailing, etc. The key is to choose something in which you have an active interest and engage others in the conversation. You can either search these on Twitter or use Monitter.com if you don't have a Twitter account. 

Another way to reach high end clients is to use a site called Twellow.com. This site serves as an index on Twitter of people by profession. For example, if you have an interest in stock market investment, you Twellow to locate others who share that same interest. If you were a nurse before you became a Realtor, reach out to other medical professionals. 

The bottom line about social networking goes back to the principles of attraction--like attracts like. Social media require you to show up as who you are as a person. When others get to know you on a personal basis, they will be much more likely to do business with you. Best of all, it's a lot more fun to meet people doing what you love to do rather than pounding the hot summer pavement knocking on doors and holding open house!

Posted by Bernice Ross--need more help with your real estate business? If so, find out why "Real Estate Dough(TM) Your Recipe for Real Estate Success was the #1 Selling Book at the 2008 National Association of Realtors Convention.

Thirteen Coaching Tips to Help You Thrive in Today's Tough Real Estate Market

It is not a question of if you will experience situations that will test you; the question is when will they occur and will you be prepared to deal with them. You also need to address HOW you handle a situation where your best is simply not good enough. How can you prepare yourself to better handle these situations? Here are some suggestions to help you grow your effectiveness at handling challenging situations in today's tough real estate market. Please note these are not tips and techniques to grow your business--they're about your mindset--the ultimate secret to winning in any situation. 

 1. Self care. Taking great care of yourself is the only way to stay in top mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual condition. Working from this place will make coping with any challenge easier.

 2. Know yourself. Giving your best is subjective and personal. Being able to observe and acknowledge when you are giving your personal best at any specific moment is an essential skill.

 3. Allow your best to grow over time – ignore the desire to defend that you are doing your best and you can’t do any more. No matter how good you are, there’s always room for improvement. Also, small improvements over time add up to big changes in overall effectiveness.

 4. Support – coach, friend, mentor—anyone who encourages you to be at your best, even when it’s painful. Being at your best requires a solid base of support.

 5. Partnership – working directly with someone when you come face to face with a situation allows you more resources than tackling it alone. Just make sure that you and your partner are aligned and working toward the same outcome.

6. Regularly train yourself to grow and improve. Waiting until the last minute to get trained is a good way to magnify the size of any challenge you face. Start your training early and maintain it for an extended period of time.

 7. Mental toughness – learning how to handle a tough situation is like learning any other skill. First gain awareness, then practice, and finally, use feedback to improve. Again, start doing this BEFORE you need to use it.

 8. Give yourself permission to exceed your abilities without having the need to beat yourself up. Each of us is our own worst critic. Exceeding your abilities is much easier when your inner critic is on holiday.

 9. Make a list of 10 significant situations where your best wasn’t enough and describe how you handled the situation. Write down what worked for you and what didn’t work. Keep this list handy and refer to it when facing challenges.

 10. When faced with a challenge where you have few strengths or abilities, minimize any consequence of failure. Take small steps that you can easily deal with and avoid taking huge risks.

 11. Express gratitude often to your self and others who support you to grow. Pushing yourself beyond your limits is a sign of courage and a willingness to grow.

12. Stay present. Every day is a new day – what may have been easy yesterday might prove challenging today and vice-versa. Use what you have available today, not yesterday.

13. Laugh. Pushing your abilities will undoubtedly make for some incredible stories and comedy.

Posted by Bernice Ross, CEO RealEstateCoach.com and MCC (Master Certified Coach) Need a real estate coach? We have group and individual coaching at all price points--you don't have to face this nasty market alone. Visit us at www.RealEstateCoach.com to get the real estate coaching and training you need today to succeed tomorrow. 

Dominican Republic

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