This week we are going to discuss how your attitude determines your success, this takes shape in many different ways, but today we’re going to cover one of the more critical ones:

Self Talk:  If a five year old child heard every day “you’re stupid, you’re worthless, you’re never going to amount to anything” do you think that would hurt their chances of being a successful adult?  Of Course!  So why do we do it to ourselves every single day?  When someone makes a mistake they say “I’m so stupid” or when their business is not going well “I’m never going to be successful, I shouldn’t have even tried”  they are setting themselves up for failure just like that 5 year old.  Can you imagine if every day that 5 year old heard “You’re so smart, you’re going to be very successful when you grow up, the world is lucky to have you”  Do you imagine that child might turn out a little differently?  Certainly!  What are you telling yourself every day?  The next time you make a mistake, say “Hmmmm, that’s interesting, what can I learn from that?  or better yet, the next time you catch yourself doing something right, celebrate it!  Say “Wow, I’m a genius!  The world is lucky to have me!” and see how your outlook changes.

Exercise:  For one week, celebrate everything that goes GREAT in your life, whether it’s a big commission check, getting a great parking spot at the mall, having a good hair day, or seeing a beautiful sunset.  Celebrate It!  At the end of the week I think you will notice a difference and will continue to celebrate the successes forever!

bobsdad @ yahoo.com … realestateguy72 @ hotmail.com … sexychick @ Aol.com

What message are you sending every day as you email potential clients, hand out business cards, and pay good money for advertising? Everyone knows that they are free email services, so right off the bat they know you won’t invest in your own business, and the “sexychick” one speaks for itself…(what business ARE you trying to promote, anyway?)

I often mention this in my trainings, and I often get questions from you about HOW to set it up, and how expensive is it, anyways? So today’s tip is called…(drum roll please…)

Get a Real Email!

I’m going to share some quick, simple steps to getting a great, professional email address in just a matter of minutes!

The company I use is probably one of the least expensive AND easiest to use. Here’s the simple steps to getting YOUR professional email up and running:

1. Click on the link at the bottom of this article.
2. Choose your package/Product. You can choose from several, but starting out, these 2 are probably good enough:

A. For ONE domain name and 5 different email names on that account (no web hosting included) Click on “mail” and then select “continue” under “Instant Mail” then click “sign up” and then you will come to the screen to select your domain name. I would suggest starting with your name first, such as AndyTolbert.com (capitals don’t matter!) If it’s available, select it. Then follow the instructions for setting up your new account. Your total cost will be $18.87 per year, that’s a nickel a day! I find more than that on the floor of the vacant houses I go see!

B. For more than one domain and to have actual Web Hosting where you can post a website or a blog and get 600 email names instead of 5, instead of clicking “mail” click on “web hosting” and select the plan you want. Please note, don’t get a bigger plan JUST for the extra domains…it’s cheaper to just buy add-on domains for $6.99 each per year. It’s more about the extras. Probably the Beginner will be enough. It will run you $47.88/year. Once you’ve chosen, go through the same steps of choosing your domain name as above in “A”

Please Note, if you are a real estate agent, NAR has restrictions on using the word REALTOR in your domain name, please be careful with what you choose. I also would try to focus on YOU not your company, because you may not always be at the same place!

3. Once your new account is set up, you will log in to your “control panel” where there are 2 main tabs at the top, go to “administration” then click on the “email” icon then click “new”

4. Type in the email name that you want, such as “listings” @ and then select your domain name from the dropdown list (if you have more than one). you are now setting up an email called “listings @ yourdomain.com”

5. Select “type” either “mailbox” which will create a mailbox for you or “forward” which will just forward it to another email that you already have (like your aol.com email, but remember, if you need to ever REPLY to a client they will see your aol if you use it as a forward) then create and verify your password. You can also select an additional forward, for example, every email you receive at “listings@” will also copy to your assistant. This can be very handy for followup.

6. Now hit “OK” and you’re done! Your new email, “listings @ yourdomain.com” is ready to go!

7. To check your email, you can use their built in web-email login OR you can use the Pop3/imap/smtp servers to set up in outlook, gmail, and other email servers. (can’t help you with that part, it all depends on how you have your computer set up, but there is some great customer support online in your control panel, or you can call for support, they’ve always helped me when I called!)

It’s not even really 7 steps, but if you knew just how easy it is, you’d kick yourself for not doing it sooner! (Thanks to Lee for giving me the idea for this weeks lesson!)

Click Here to go to the site where I buy my domains and run MY emails.

*If your name is not available, try for something that tells about your business (or an extra domain name) for example, besides AndyTolbert.com, I also own AndiTolbert, AndreaTolbert, Realestateinvesting123, REOdomination, turbohousebuyers, and many more. Maybe you would like something like Orlandowaterfronthomes.com, Miamicondos.com or something that spells out your niche. You can even buy a street address for one of your properties and put up a simple one page site for each. it only costs $6.99 per year per domain, and when you sell the house you can cancel it, or better yet, transfer it to the new homeowners!

Hope you have fun with all of your new domains and emails…but don’t get bogged down, just pick one and go out and sell something.

Thank you to everyone that sent in guesses at the success riddle from last week. That was a ton of fun…I think I’ll do it again! Here’s some of the answers you gave:

The subconscious/Your mind
Your Habits
Your Attitude
Your Conscience

I think that all of these are very good answers, and all could probably be interpreted as “right” Here’s the riddle again as a reminder…

“I am your constant companion. I will push you forward to success or I will drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. 80% of what you do, you might as well hand over to me and I will do it promptly and I will do it correctly. I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me. Show me what you’d like to have done, and after a couple of lessons, I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great people. Alas, I am the master of all failures as well. All who are great, I have made great. All who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine; but I do work with the precision of a machine and the intellect of a human. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I’ll lay the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you!”
“Who am I?”

The answer that matches the one I had in mind is…Your Habits! Congratulations to Carol for being the first to reply with the answer!

This time of year, most of us spend some quality time with our families and friends.  In fact I’m writing this on my laptop on my way to Ft. Lauderdale to get on a luxurious 7-day cruise with my husband Tim, his parents and my parents.  It’s a holiday tradition that we’ve done for the last 6 or 7 years.

Anyways, back to the balance thing.

Do you have the ability to separate your work from your play?  Sometimes it’s not easy, in fact, I’ve brought some work with me on the cruise (not necessarily saying that I’ll GET to it, but it’s there!).

Many people that are self employed or small business owners sometimes forget that there’s times to draw the lines.  For example, in real estate, you should ALWAYS be prospecting for clients, whether you’re at a party, a ball game, or the beauty shop.  But are you willing to tell people that you are available 24/7 by cell phone tied to your ear?  I’m not.  In fact, I VERY RARELY give my cell phone out.  Once you’ve given it out, you can’t take it back, so be very choosy about who you give it to.  It is NOT printed on my business cards, and when I DO give it to someone, I make a big deal out of hand-writing it on my card and telling them to make sure they don’t share it with anyone.  This makes them realize that they are getting something special that not everyone is entitled to, and I’ve found that they tend to respect it more that way.  By the way, I do NOT give it out to everyone…I often say ‘Oh it’s hard to reach me on the cell, it’s best to just try the office.”

I also turn off my cell during meetings, dinners with friends, parties, and any other time I don’t want to be interrupted.  As professionals, we need to make a decision: “do I control my business, or does my business control me?”  Ask yourself that same question next time a family gathering is interrupted by the cell phone.

Ok, not that you’ve finished reading this and know another one of my secrets, close your email, pick up the phone, and invite a friend out for something fun…and turn your cell phone off!

Last week I wrote about not “slacking off” at the end of the year, but I think there’s more to it than just that.

There’s an epidemic running rampant and it’s up to US to stop it!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed… attendance is down at EVERY group I’ve talked to.  This includes networking groups, real estate groups, chambers of commerce, CPA organizations, Rotary, Meetup.com’s, EVERY group I’ve talked to in ALL industries…What’s Up?

At first I thought it was just the end of the year blah’s or depression about the market, but it’s crossing over into other industries!  If we don’t stop it, who will?

I know there are some of you out there that are thinking “times are tight, I can’t afford to do marketing or attend any functions” and the truth is, it’s even MORE important to attend networking groups WHEN times are slow…that’s how you will get the leads that will keep you going through this market!

Now, you all know that I’m a straight shooter, so PLEASE don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way…

If you love the business you are in, you need to fight with everything you’ve got to stay in it. 
Go to networking groups, go knock on doors, put yourself where the potential clients are, work your own database of past clients (pick up the phone… it’s free!).  If you truly love it and want to make it work, you need to shake it off and get to work!  I know the market’s not easy right now, but the professionals that can make it through this shake-up will absolutely THRIVE when the market turns back around…will you be there to see it?

If you DON’T love the business you are in…GET OUT NOW! 
Don’t wait, don’t waste a dime renewing your license “just in case.”  If you truly down in the depth of your heart don’t see this as what you want to do with your life, go find what you DO want to do and do IT 100%.  By being only 1/2 involved in this business, you are actually doing not only yourself, but also your clients a disservice. 

(Please note, I am not talking about full time vs. part time, I am talking about committed vs. involved.  Don’t know the difference?  This morning when you had eggs and bacon for breakfast, the chicken was involved, the pig was committed!)

Please support your local groups and organizations, at one time, you got value from them, now help THEM get through these trying times when THEY need your help…if you don’t support these associations, they may not be there when you need them again.

And, don’t slack off…people DO buy houses in December!

See you next week!

 
This may just be one of the most critical elements to your success.  I say that because many people take advice from people with different ideas, goals, and experience levels than them and then wonder why their plans don’t work.
 
If you want to sky-dive, you take advice from and instructor that’s done tons of jumps.
 
If you want to learn to play the piano, you take lessons from someone that already knows how.
 
So why would you take real estate advice from someone without experience?  I see so many people right now saying “my neighbor said” or “my husband said” or my favorite “the news said…”  If these people aren’t experts, then DON’T LISTEN TO THEM!
 
Also, even the “experts” sometimes mess up, so it is always in your best interest to verify things before implementing them.  Here’s an example: A short sale training company recently released an email about how the IRS had “clarified” the 1099 situation on short sale debt.  The email went on to supposedly quote the IRS guidelines verbatim, but when I went over to IRS.gov to verify, I found a completely different set of guidelines than what they had quoted.  If you had advised a client base on their email, you could have a problem on your hands!
 
Remember, be careful who you let into your head!