Chicago 4-9-17

CHICAGO EDITION

5 SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES Real Estate Agents Must Avoid Are Your PRESENTATION SKILLS Costing You Money?

SUCCESS— These 7 Habits Are the Real Secret to Success

COVER STORY

BARRY NEWMAN

I'll Take 2 Pounds of Confidence and 3 POUNDS OF SELF-ESTEEM!

CHICAGO EDITION

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BARRY NEWMAN

CONTENTS 4) SUCCESS—THESE 7 HABITS ARE THE REAL SECRET TO SUCCESS 13) ARE YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS COSTING YOU MONEY?

18) I'LL TAKE 2 POUNDS OF CONFIDENCE AND 3 POUNDS OF SELF-ESTEEM!.

22) 5 SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES REAL ESTATE AGENTS MUST AVOID

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Success– These 7 Habits Are the Real Secret to Success What is it that makes some people so successful and others not? Is there a secret recipe one can follow, as easy as baking a cake, which will give them the strength to achieve their ultimate goals and have it all?

The answer is that, in a manner, there is. The trick is in how you think about success and what it means for you. Many people define success as achieving their personal goals, but could this be leading them to look at the world a little too narrowly? The people that are truly successful in every aspect of 4

their lives don’t stop at simply achieving their personal goals. They succeed in many avenues of their life, including their job, relationships, health, and family just to name a few.

It turns out that ultra-successful people tend to have quite a number of things in common. One main skill many seem to possess is high emotional intelligence, or the ability to manage your emotions so that you can stay calm and focused even in high

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stress situations. Luckily, it seems not all of them are simply born with this ability, but have many strategies they use to help them achieve higher emotional intelligence. Here are seven strategies and habits that will help you achieve success in every area of your life.

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BE COMPOSED The first thing successful people always seem to have under control is their composure. Successful people stay calm and composed when the going gets tough and fingers start pointing. They don’t panic. The secret? They understand that in life things are always changing. It doesn’t matter if something is bad at the moment because that will change soon enough. In this topsy turvy life all you can really do is adapt in order to stay happy and remain in control of how you react.

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BE KNOWLEDGEABLE Have you ever noticed how successful people always seem to have such a wide range of knowledge and interests?

Successful people do know more because they are always working to grow and learn. They strive to constantly increase their self-awareness. If a spare moment exists, then they will fill it with some kind of self-education. They do this because they are passionate about learning new things and ways to improve their life.

Ignore the fear of being judged and ask questions, because that is the only way you can learn. Successful people don’t

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fear asking questions. They fear not asking those questions and growing stagnant.

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BE DELIBERATE It is important to think and reason before you come to a decision. Successful people don’t rush. They seek out advice from other, they think of all the aspects, and sleep on their thoughts before finally making their decision. Your gut instinct can be misleading, and lead you to make a rash decision that you will come to regret later.

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BE CERTAIN, AND SPEAK WITH CONVICTION Successful people speak with certainty.

Unless you communicate your ideas with conviction and certainty, then you will have a hard time getting people to listen to them.

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BE POSITIVE Successful people use positive body language when they are talking to other people. Their tone is enthusiastic, they maintain eye contact, leaning in towards the person speaking to show interest.

Successful people use it to draw those other people in. How you say something can be just as if not more important that what you say to people. Positive body language can completely alter how your speech is perceived by others, and helps to keep attention on you and what you are saying.

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BE MEMORABLE BY LEAVING A STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION You only have once to make a first impression, and they are incredibly important, as they are closely ties to positive body language. You have around 7 seconds to convince a person to like you after you initially meet them. That is how long it takes them to decide when they meet you. After that a person is simply spending the rest of the conversation justifying that initial reaction they had. You can make sure you make a good first impression by having strong posture, a firm handshake, a warm smile, and open shoulders.

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BE FEARLESS Successful people know that to give in to fear is a choice. They don’t let the fear take over, instead focusing on the rush of euphoria that comes with conquering fears.

All of this adds up to having a high emotional intelligence. What helps you to succeed is the ability to control those whirlwind emotions so you can stay calm and focused on actually succeeding. These habits can help you gain a higher emotional intelligence, but as you probably already know, anything involving dealing with your emotions in a healthy manner takes serious work. So, don’t give up if you fail the first time. You must always try and try again.

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BARRY NEWMAN Top Agent Magazine

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BARRY NEWMAN A natural entrepreneur, Barry Newman entered the real estate world wanting to learn more about it. “My wife suggested I go back to school, since I love learning,” Barry explains. “So I decided to go get my broker’s license.” From 2001 to 2010, Barry first opened and ran Willow Lake Real Estate, and then Century 21 Premier Properties from 2005 onwards. Finding that he loved sales more than anything, he decided to sell the 8Copyright Top Agent Magazine

brokerage in 2010 so he could focus solely on serving clients. Moving to @properties, he’s seen tremendous growth, and remains in the top 3% of brokers nationwide. He has amassed in excess of $200,000,000 in net sales during his 16 years as a real estate broker. Most of his business is made up of referrals and repeat clients, standing as proof that his superior service truly exceeds expectations.

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Moving to @properties, Barry Newman has seen tremendous growth and remains in the top 3% of brokers nationwide.

“Every time I take on a listing, one of the things I offer is staging, and I also refer them to a great contractor,” Barry explains. “If you refer good contractors to your clients, they will refer you.”

And whether he’s working with a buyer or a seller, he communicates throughout the transaction, always keeping everyone up-to-date.

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Barry understands people have many choices when deciding to work with a real estate agent, so he takes his job very seriously. “If you’re not talking to potential buyers/sellers, they won’t remember who you are,” he explains.

“It’s the same with past clients. The average consumer is going to 5 to 7 websites.” With a Copyright Top Agent Magazine9

strong online presence, he takes advantage of @properties’ marketing tools to not only promote his services, but his listings as well.

Before he even lists a home on the market, he creates a customized plan to showcase the best features of the property. Through assessing and setting the proper market value, taking high quality photos, identifying the target market, and staging, he is able to sell homes at a faster rate. Currently, his list to sell ratio is 96%, and listings sell in less than two months on average.

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Once the transaction is complete, clients leave glowing reviews about their time with him, wanting to spread the word about their experience. One recent seller said, “Barry Newman was our @properties agent. Barry is a well-organized and efficient broker.

He was so familiar with Glenview and that made our price point one that moved our home quickly. Some people involved in a move are difficult to reach. Barry was quick to respond to calls or texts or emails. We would recommend him to friends who are ready to sell or buy in the area.�

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“Barry Newman was our @properties agent. He was so familiar with Glenview and that made our price point one that moved our home quickly.”

And one buyer raved, “As first-time home buyers, my wife and I were very fortunate to partner with Barry in our search for our home in Chicago’s north suburbs. Throughout the two-month journey, Barry demonstrated an unparalleled level of expertise on considerations to make when purchasing a home, unbiased counsel on Top Agent Magazine

the quality on the over 15 homes we visited, and an extreme level of patience.”

Although Barry is on the job 24/7, he does fit in time for community involvement. He lives in a subdivision with 800-1000 properties, and has started blogging about all the news occurCopyright Top Agent Magazine 11

ring there. Barry also donates a percentage of every sale to a charity of his clients’ choice.

“Part of my ongoing mission is to give back to our local community. With the help of my wonderful clients, it has become my mission to donate/raise $10,000 a year to give to local food banks, schools, children’s disease or any other charity my clients support.”

As he continues to grow, his love for the industry will remain. It’s a dream job for Barry, and he can’t imagine doing anything else. “I love working with people. I love the fact that this is probably the largest purchase they’re ever going to make. It brings me joy to help people.”

For more information about BARRY NEWMAN, please call 847-921-1666 or email barrynewman@atproperties.com Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12

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Are Your Presentation Skills Costing You Money?

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ometimes we’re so focused on technology and education that we forget this is a “people business”. And, a great deal of the money you make comes from your ‘point of contact’ skills. What do I mean by that? Lead generating dialogues and presentation dialogues. Yet, how much do we work on those verbal skills?

Unfortunately, communication sales skills have gotten short shrift in the last decade. Why? I think it’s because many of us are so challenged by technological changes. But, slow down. Think about how you actually make money. It’s at point of contact.

Getting better at point of contact skills translates into more money in less time.

We’re All Presenters Everyone in the real estate business presents: Agents present, when they are doing listing or buyer presentations. Managers present when they are recruiting, or doing their office meetings. Mortgage and title Top Agent Magazine

By Carla Cross

When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. reps present when they are in front of a group of agents in an office, talking about their services. So, doesn’t it make sense to become ‘killer’ at those presentations? You’ll double your money and halve your time.

Bug Off: I Do Okay Just Like I Am Yeah. I know. As a musician, I’ve worked with literally hundreds of people who thought they ‘played good enough.’

Some people just get to a certain performance level and leave it there. Have you ever thought that, often, our presentation strategies (or lack of) work in spite of us, not because of us?

As a musician, I know the thrill of performing at high levels. So, open your mind and consider

stepping up to a higher presentation level. Not only will you have personal satisfaction, you’ll make more money!

Now, let’s tackle one set of presentation skills: Organizing that presentation effectively.

Having heard listing presentations that wander all around the world, I know the importance of effective presentation organization.

Three Steps to Organize Your Presentation to Knock Their Socks Off Most of the time, we just get in front of people and say whatever we think of first. That leads to some big presentation mistakes, and costs us ‘sales.’ Instead of stumbling through a presentation, why not organize it to Copyright Top Agent Magazine 13

grab their attention, persuade them to your way of thinking, and motivate them to action?

You can. In my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make Your Best Presentation Ever, I show a simple three-step format to create your persuasive presentation. No matter why you’re in front of people, we need to be persuasive Think about it. When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done.

So, it’s extremely important that you organize your listing presentation using a persuasive format, not just an information-heavy dialogue flow.

Grab Their Attention in the Opening Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like: I won’t take much of your time, but...

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We have a lot to cover today We won’t get through the outline I know you don’t want to listen, but...

I’m not really prepared

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox” (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….)

Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever Top Agent Magazine

If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view. comes ‘naturally.’ Instead, make your openings: Provocative Interesting Different Engaging I just attended a ‘Train the Trainer’ session (yes, I still learn great stuff every day!), where the trainer said it was important to engage the audience in a meaningful way in the first two minutes of your presentation. I think that’s a great rule to follow today, because people’s attention spans are the length of a gnat’s eyebrow. So, the next time you attend a presentation, see how much time elapses before the speaker/presenter/trainer gets the audience into meaningful action.

I don’t mean to ask a rhetorical question, either!

A Middle That Educates Your ‘Audience’ to Your Point of View In the middle of your presTop Agent Magazine

entation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view. By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view. If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view.

Retention is Key

Why Use Visuals?

Three days later:

There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:

We retain 10% of the information when we hear it

We believe what we see

We retain 65% of the information when we hear and see it

We retain the information much longer As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:

Have you ever met with sellers or buyers, given them lots of information—and then had them question you about it a few days later—as if they never heard you—or heard you backwards? That’s because people don’t hear and retain very well.

Look at the statistics:

So, use visuals to prove your points, not to merely show pretty pictures of houses.

The Ending: What are the main, and fre- Back to the Beginning quently, unspoken objections my ‘audience’ will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?

Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this?

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Well, that’s all. What do you think?

pop tunes are constructed with this format:

We’re out of time. Thank you.

I hope you’ll list with me

theme—variation—theme

I don’t have time to close.

I couldn’t get to much of the material, but you can read it In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings.

One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they haven’t thought the ending through.

How to Do a Stunning Ending Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending, Go back to your beginning opening theme Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action Motivate your ‘audience’ to take action

A Great Presentation is Crafted Like a Pop Song As a musician, I know that all Copyright Top Agent Magazine 16

This is known in the music business as the ABA format.

Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning.

Think of the end. They’re alike, right? It’s the middle— known as the ‘bridge’—that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune: A. A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.)

B. An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics A. Back to that theme, with a motivating ending Now, you’re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, President of Carla Cross & Co., is an international speaker, coach, and resource provider specializing in real estate management. A former master level CRB instructor, and National REALTOR® Educator winner, Carla was recently named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate. For a free document on standards to establish, email Carla at Carla@carlacross. com and ask for standards document.

Carla has written six internationally published books, and provides coaching programs for management, including her affordable inoffice coaching programs Up and Running in 30 Days and On Track to Success in 30 Days for Experienced Agents, which provide standards, focus, and accountability.

Reach Carla at 425-392-6914 or www.carla cross.com.

P. S. Practice!

Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.

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I’ll Take 2 Pounds of Confidence and 3 Pounds of Self-Esteem!

By Barry Eisen

At least a few times per month I get emails and/or calls asking me to help develop confidence and a positive self-esteem. When you’re hot you’re hot and when you’re not, you’re not. Life has its ups and downs and occasionally everyone feels like they’ve run out of gas and nothing they seem to do works. When you’re in a slump the world can look overwhelming and against you. The more you think about you’re victimhood, the more out of control you feel.What you focus upon becomes larger. Confidence, positive self-esteem...these are just words and something experienced many moons ago. Talk it out with your spouse? Sure. See a therapist? Maybe. Get a coach? Good idea. Call a hypnotist...that’s where I come in, but maybe not in an obvious way.

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Hypnosis can be of help in so many areas such as controlling weight, memory improvement, reading faster, stopping smoking, becoming a great public speaker, prospecting and growing a business, eliminating fears, becoming a better golfer/tennis player/baseball player etc., sleeping and energy, controlling pain control in dentistry and child birthing, improving wellness, passing tests and so much more. This is not an over statement. Hypnosis is a performance enhancer because it taps into the best parts of who we are to make the changes necessary to make the changes to evolve ourselves.

But “programming” ones mind for confidence and positive self-esteem is not something I’ve seen done effectively. The subconscious says, “What does that mean?” “Give me a picture, what do you want?” Read any neuroscience to know (or simply use common sense) that the subconscious needs specific direction (words, pictures and supportive feelings) for these clear messages to be acted upon. A general business plan is usually a recipe for disaster. A poor teaching plan will confuse students. Mixed general messages given to a 3 year old will produce erratic behavior. A loose navigation plan will have ships traveling in circles. Just like many people.

Instead of working on confidence and positive self-esteem, does it make sense to instead, work on a solid business target of success and develop a business plan that will get you there? If you’re planning for the future, is it not a better idea to set an end result and develop strategies that will make it happen? If you’re looking for better health, doesn’t it make sense to set a target for excellence and back it up with a realistic exercise and eating approach that will insure success?

The confidence and self-esteem will come along automatically. Create the goal, take action, do the work, be consistent. Your business will never grow more than you do. Your health will never get better without you stretching out beyond who you now are. Your relationships will never be more secure and supportive than you are of yourself. Your confidence and self-esteem will never grow without a reason.

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Before you therapy or drug yourself into confidence and self-esteem, at least try (Oh! I hate that word) the 10 organic following ideas for 2-3 weeks.

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Set goals that stretch you out and force you to grow. You can’t be depressed when you’re learning something. Learning takes you out of your egocentric predicament.

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Create timelines/target dates for goal accomplishments. This establishes a sense of urgency. It puts a little “gitty up” in your step and mind.

List your actions of the day on your To-Do list and prioritize all items.

Doing the A’s and crossing each off as done, will put a smile on your face and a jolt of small energy in your life. (Accomplishment feels good.

Could you use some “feel good”/self-esteem?) You’ll start looking forward 20

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to these little positive jolts and do what is necessary to have them. If I was talking cocaine...that would be a bad thing, but since I’m talking non drug human motivation...that would be a good thing.

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If you’re just feeling flat for no obvious reason, take on an interest/ hobby/project that’s been on your mind in the past. Learning stimulates blood flow to different parts of the brain and increases endorphin flow.

(E.g. Calligraphy, sailing, martial arts, reading sci-fi, etc.)

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Follow through like your hair’s on fire. Show yourself what you CAN DO! Create some appropriate reward for the accomplishment.

Balance your life with goals in physical, financial, emotional, educational, family, social and spiritual areas. Sometimes more is better.

Purposely smile more, laugh easier, hold eye contact a little more (obviously, not in a creepy way) and present a stronger posture.

Learn to relax to slow down, put things in perspective, ask yourself how you feel and how you’re doing 2 or 3 times during your day. Don’t let the day rule you. Be present. Pay attention.

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Act “AS IF” you were already doing things with confidence, making decisions with authority and living the life you want to live. You become what you think about.

Barry Eisen teaches personal development seminars and coaches Southern California top producing REALTORS®. “Your business will never grow more than you do” is the theme; self hypnosis and behavior modification are the tools for playing a bigger game. barryeisen.com, barryeisen@LA.twcbc.com 818-769-4300

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SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES

Real Estate Agents Must Avoid There is perhaps no greater marketing tool for agents these days than having a large presence on social media, but there is more to social media marketing than just opening an account and gaining followers. A lot of agents forget the social part of social media. It’s all about engagement, but it needs to be the right kind of engagement. This can often be the first impression potential clients or industry peers have of you, so make it count. There is no second chance to make a first impression, and that is especially true for real estate agents. Here’s just a few things you want to avoid.

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1 Using it to Vent

Social Media is a great place to complain and commiserate about things, but save that for your personal page. A real estate transaction is already a stressful ordeal, the last thing anyone wants is someone who seems like they’ll bring a negative energy to the process. Even worse?

Bad mouthing other Realtors® or listings. You’re selling yourself and your skills, so don’t sell anything that shows you in a bad light. Much like marketing a property, everything you put out should be professional and inviting.

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Lack of Consistent Branding

Yes, social media is about social engagement, but it’s also about creating brand recognition. While you don’t want it to be purely promotional, you are running a business, so create a consistent branding across all social media platforms. If you can afford a professional graphic designer to help you out with this, that’s great. But at the very least, have the same profile pic, cover image and highly visible contact information, across the board. And don’t forget to share links to your other accounts, some people prefer different social media applications.

3Not Posting Enough

It’s good to create a schedule of how many times you’ll be posting per day and to pick times when you might have the most engagement.

Don’t over do it, but three posts a day at the right time, tends to be a good goal. There are numerous tools on Facebook, for example, that

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can let you see when interactions are the highest.

Stick to your schedule and adjust accordingly.

It’s also important to not just post your listings.

Be a resource for people who follow your page.

Post community events, or other informative articles that are relevant to home ownership.

Be a page they want to follow even when they aren’t buying or selling a property. They’ll remember you when the time comes.

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Not interacting With Your Followers

It’s called social media for a reason. The more you engage with your followers, the more they see you as a real person, and not just a marketing tool. Not only do you get to know your past clients and potential clients, on Facebook, engagement actually will make your posts seen by more people. So it’s a win/win.

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Not Sharing or Linking to Others

It might not seem like a good idea to not promote the blogs, pages or listings of other people, but it’s not only an excellent way to build goodwill, it will also increase your own presence when they reciprocate. So make a point to share posts and links for local businesses and even the blogs of your peers, if it’s a post that offers valuable insight into an expertise you don’t have. That will encourage them to share your posts and even your listings, which will increase your potential buyer pool. This is another incentive to create your own blog. Unique informative content is always of value, and more likely to be shared than promotional links.

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