Consistency

Today after leaving a meeting I was approached by an investor that asked where I found my leads. I answered by giving him a few examples of where I received my most recent listings. By seeing the look on his face, I could tell that he didn’t like my response. I think he believed I was holding out and not wanting to share or there was something special I was doing which was/is not the case.

Like this gentleman and probably like many of you, I once too believed there was a magic bullet/formula to successfully finding a lead in real estate or anything. After speaking with many “experts” I found out that there is no such thing as a magic bullet. In fact, the only thing that really separated a bad or good investor from a great one was/is consistency. The better question is, what should I do on a consistent basis to make me successful in real estate investing or anything else? Once you know what to do consistently, and you actually do it, you will be successful. 

Once you know what to do consistently, the next step is to figure out how to tie all these activities and procedures together into a system. As time passes you will learn that doing some activities produce better results than other activities. By tracking your progress you can easily eliminate the activities that produce limited results and grow the activities or expand on the activities that produce better results. Over time you begin to find the winning consistent activities in your field while simultaneously creating a system. Having a system that you can train anyone to duplicate will then grow into a business. At the end of the day that is usually what we are all looking to do.

So let’s go back to the gentleman’s question about how to find leads. I told him I found my leads through networking with other realtors, wholesalers, investors, bandit signs, social media, online paid ads, and some blogging from time to time. As you can see I try to diversify my marketing to avoid putting all my eggs in one basket. I do this so when one form of marketing is lacking another marketing activity picks up the slack. But do not forget to evolve. From 2006-2008 the number one way I found deals was by putting out bandit signs. While it still works there are more efficient methods. For instance, I started doing online marketing in 2010 when I was not doing it before.  Today if you are not doing online marketing you are leaving opportunities and money on the table. However, keep in mind that this too has changed over time. I remember when everyone was excited about Google Ads and today, everywhere you look, everyone is talking about Facebook ads. So make sure you ask the experts in your area of interest, “What do you do consistently in _____________ that makes you successful?” You can fill in this blank with anything. A great follow up question would be, “How did you systematize these activities?”

In the end, if you want to be successful at anything you must start by doing the right activities consistently. This will inevitably establish a system. By sharing that system with others, and creating win-win situations, your ever evolving system will blossom into a business.