by Jonathan Rivera on March 9, 2010
Are you one of those people who never seems to have enough time? Read this post to learn how you can finally fix that.
In this post you’ll learn
- About a GREAT free tool you can use to track your time
- How to take control of your time
- How to manage your time more effectively
The best time management advice I ever got
IF you’re not keeping track of your time you’ve got a problem. The BEST time management advice I’ve ever gotten was to TRACK my time. How could I take control of my time if I didn’t know what I was doing with it?
Your time is precious. It’s the one thing in your life that’s truly limited, don’t give it away cheaply.
A great tool for tracking your time
I’ve tried everything from keeping a notebook, to spreadsheets, to iPhone apps and one tool stands out above the rest.
I’ve been using Klok for a couple of months now and it’s awesome. It’s flexible, easy to customize, and easy to use. ***WARNING: When I say it’s easy to use, you gotta be a little techie, or you might not get it***
Taking control of your time
The first step to taking control of your time is knowing exactly what you’re doing with it, that’s why I recommended using Klok.
After getting Klok set up all you have to do is track what you’re doing when you sit down at your computer for the next two weeks. Some ideas for folders are:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Blogging
- Marketing
If you wanted to break each activity into sub folders you could add Two folders to Facebook, one for interacting with friends and the other for business networking.
All you want to do in this initial phase is establish tags, or folders for all the activities you do when you’re online. After the two weeks you’ll be able to see a report that shows you exactly how you’re spending your time.
*Remember, you can make more money, you can’t make more time
Managing your time online
If you’ve done steps one and two you’re ready to analyze the results. Some of the things you should consider are:
- Time Blocking: Looking back at the last two weeks figure out which activities are similar. Group those activities into time blocks of 1-2 hours to get them done. This requires some planning, but it will be well worth it in the long run.
- Outsourcing: When you look back on what you’re doing, are there any tasks that could easily be systemized and outsourced? I know, as soon as I say outsource people start thinking about far off countries like India and the Philippines, but that’s not it. Couldn’t you “outsource” your weekly Craigslist ads to your teenage son or daughter?
Once you start time blocking you’ll find tasks that once took an hour are done in mere minutes. Heck, I used to spend 8+ hours per week on email, now I do them once per week and I can get through 200 emails in just over an hour.
A little something extra for you
Speaking of time management I want to invite you to the Real-TechGuy Radio Show tonight at 6pm EST. Our special guest will be Social Media Maven Naomi Trower. Naomi wrote the book on Social Media Marketing for Real Estate and Mortgage professionals.
Naomi will be sharing some of her time management strategies for using Social Media more effectively as well as some really cool Facebook and Twitter strategies right from her book. To join us click the button below.
by Jonathan Rivera on March 3, 2010
Do you remember the good old days when any agent with a pulse could make a living in Real Estate?
Now a days if you’re not spending big bucks on you’re marketing you’re probably not getting any leads. One of the first questions I ask agents when I take them on as clients is, “How much are you spending on Marketing?”
I’m never surprised when the agents with the least business say, “Nothing.”
How on earth do you expect to stay in business without any marketing? The tougher the economy, the smarter you have to be with your marketing budget. Back in 2007 I was spending almost $2,000 per month in marketing to get my business off the ground.
Most might find that scary, but the fact was that for every $1 I spent, I got $2 of new business.
My follow up question to new clients is
How are you spending on Marketing?
All too often agents tell me they’re still using postcards, flyers, signs, newspapers, and all sorts of other “Old School” techniques with a very limited return. They want to know how they can cut their marketing costs while improving their ROI.
The best way to cut that marketing expense while increasing your ROI is to learn how to use Internet Marketing effectively. Yeah, Yeah, you’re on Face Tube and Tweet Book, and every other Social Network, but guess what….
Unless you have a plan and a proven system you’re just wasting your time.
A system for marketing online
How would you like to learn a proven system to build your Real Estate business using nothing more than a few social networks and a totally new approach?
Old marketing is dead, it’s time to sink or swim.
On Thursday March 4th, 2010 I’m going to reveal the exact system that I use to build a list of qualified buyers. I can’t let everyone in on this secret system or it’ll stop working, so I’m only sharing it with those of you who register for tomorrow’s call.
Seating is limited, so REGISTER now by clicking the button below
by Jonathan Rivera on February 23, 2010
A few weeks back I wrote about the importance of Surveying Your Audience. Since then I’ve done another survey and I’d like to get your opinion on the results.
Just a warning, some of these results are contradictory, so if you can help me understand what the hell these people (or you if you took the survey) are talking about, please chime in anytime in the comments section below.
So let me set this up for you…
I started using Social Media (mostly Facebook in the beginning) over 2 years ago. In January 2009 I started this blog to share what I had learned out there in the trenches. After a year of writing I realized that I need to monetize this blog or I was just wasting my time.
After trying a few different approaches I thought the smartest thing to do was survey you (my readers) to figure out what kind of stuff would help get you ahead in the world of Social media marketing for your real estate business. The following is a look at the surveys that we’ve done in an effort to create the right product for you.
Survey #1 Says…
The first survey we did was to get a better idea of the delivery of the product, so here are the results:
Clearly list building was very important to these folks
Classroom style training pulls a narrow victory
Looks like most folks prefer video training
What do the results of this First Survey Say to me?
I’m no genius, so judging by these results I’d say that most of the people who replied to this survey are interested in learning how to use Social Media to build a list of buyers and sellers. They prefer classroom style training which is also supported by videos.
What would you say? (reply in the comments section below)
Survey #2 Says…
After the first survey I went into development phase of the product which would help agents build a list of buyers and sellers using social media (just like the survey said they wanted.) Once I put together a rough draft I hosted another training call where I pitched the product and made some sales, but not nearly enough to make it worth my while.
I figured it was time to do another survey to get a clearer idea on what they wanted and how much they would pay for it, here are the results:
Looks like Facebook is pretty important
Hmmm..this is where things get a little confusing for me
Seriously??? Building your brand is worth less than 10 bucks???
WTF do these results mean?
After the results of the second survey I’m scratching my head trying to figure out what these results mean. In the first survey list building was the most important, but in the second survey it was brand building???
Looking at the results of this second survey I see that building your brand using Facebook is the most important thing and you’re willing to dedicate 2 hours per week to do it.
The part that throws me for a loop is the $10. If building your brand is so important why would it only be wroth $10? Is that $10 per week? $10 per 2 hour session? or $10 total? (help me out, share your thoughts in the comments section below.)
This is where I could really use your help understanding the results, leave your thoughts, comments, advice, or ramblings in the comments section below, Thanks!
