Wednesday, November 9, 2011

20 Stress Management Tips for Peak Performance

The long-term affects of prolonged stress are accumulative and can be physically and mentally damaging over time. Stress manifests in the body as TMJ / teeth grinding, tension headaches, neck / shoulder pain and lower back pain. Here are several practical ideas that you can use to help you dramatically reduce your stress level and live a much more productive life. Remember, take care of yourself so you can be the best for your clients.

1. Get plenty of sleep.
2. Eat balanced meals and avoid eating junk food.
3. Drink plenty of water and avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine and other stimulants.
4. Avoid drinking alcohol in excess.
5. Learn to make decisions quickly and let go of the need to over-analyze everything.
6. Express your feelings appropriately and don’t bottle up your emotions.
7. Avoid trying for perfection and don’t sweat the small stuff.
8. Maintain a positive mental attitude by utilizing affirmative “self-talk.”
9. Stop worrying so much and look at situations more optimistically.
10. Smile and laugh frequently throughout the day, don’t take yourself so seriously.
11. Mix leisure with work: take breaks and get away when you can.
12. Make a point to spend quality time with your friends and family.
13. Become more tolerant and don’t be overly critical of yourself or others.
14. Always be kind and gentle with yourself.
15. Listen to upbeat music or watch your favorite movie.
16. Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week.
17. Set written goals, plan your time and prioritize your activates.
18. Keep list of “things to do” and stay focused on short-term accomplishments.
19. Get a massage or take a warm bath.
20. Do something nice for someone else.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Seven things you need to do to engage your Facebook followers

This is a no-brainer, but were you aware that people buy more when they are engaged? Though I can't source this, some statistics show that consumers spend 20-40% more when they are actively engaged with the salesperson or company.

Do you know why? ...Because buying and selling is emotional
We must move away from one-sided tightly scripted messages to a free form of dialogue with consumers. Creating dialogue and engaging your consumers means you have to know who you’re attracting.
  • Ask Questions - Brainstorm a list of questions your followers will find engaging
  • Keep it simple and fun - Use videos and photos to attract followers
  • Keep an editorial calendar - Plan your posts around themes.
  • Create a content grid – Organize your posts into categories: Real Estate, Local Interests,
  • Personal Interest, Your website
  • Reply to every Like or Comment - Simply, “Thanks for the likes” will suffice.
  • Reply to every Share - People want to know that you’ve seen them.
  • Measure your success with analytics - Use the basic Facebook analytics or more detailed Hootsuite or Google Analytics to measure your traffic.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Questioning techniques can simplify the buying process

How did their real estate agent know that they all wanted their own shrub?

Helping people buy requires learning about the buyer's motivations and needs. Some of these have nothing to do with the number of bedrooms and square footage.

Learning to ask the right questions will help the buyers get what they are looking for. Open-ended questions allow the consumer to explain and describe more. The real estate agent can learn alot from open-ended questions.
Open-ended questions that start with
  • How
  • What
  • Why
  • When
  • Who
  • Where
  • Describe

Closed questions have their place too. Use closed question to get definitive postions from buyers. Closed questions may lead specifically to a yes or no answer and include words like:

  • Do
  • Are
  • Is
  • Have
  • Could
  • Would
  • Will
  • Can
  • Did
When qualifying buyers and sellers, it never hurts to SLOB them!
  • S How soon do you want to move?
  • L How long have you been looking?
  • O Have you made any offers?
  • B If you found the right house today, would you buy it?

Setting goals gives you a roadmap to success

The second part of Jim Rohn's discussion with Vic Johnson of Goals 2 Go about goal setting is below. Jim hits home with explaining why listing goals, both short term and long term, is necessary. Simply put, crossing something off your list everyday makes you feel good.
Having daily goals and clearly understanding what you will do each day helps you become effective in both your business and personal life. Don't go to bed without tomorrow's list done!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Just a few choice words

Just a few words from Jim Rohn to start the day:
Skills: Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom.
Growth: Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high.
Change: We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation.
Activity: The few who do are the envy of the many who watch.

Success: Success is what you attract by the person you become.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

You can't hit a your target if you don't know what it is

Setting goals is like going to the dentist. Everyone has to do it but most people don't like it. So, we put it off as long as we can....sometimes years. If you can afford to do that, I guess it's ok. If your career and financial stabilty is dependent on your goals, then it's not!
Jim Rohn, on more than one occassion had a few things to say about goals. Watch part one of Mr.Rohn's interview with Vic Johnson of Goals 2 Go entitled, "Becoming the person you need to be to achieve your goals."