So, you’re about to buy an investment property, or any property for that matter and you want to get the absolute best deal. Always keep in mind that a contract for purchase doesn’t just consist of a price. Many times there are other conditions on the contract which are just as important to the seller as the price.
If you’re trying to get your offer accepted and it’s not quite at the sellers asking price, or you’re in competition with other buyers and want to make your offer stand out… here are a few things you can try to help smooth the deal.
Leave the settlement date (the date when you officially own the property) off your original offer and let your agent know that you’re happy to settle whenever suits the seller. If a certain time specifically suits them (quick or a long), being flexible may just help you get the deal across the line
Put down a sizeable deposit. This shows you’re serious and are capable of completing the contract. Oftentimes attaching a cheque for the deposit to your offer is enough of a mental stimulus for the seller.
Where possible make your contract unconditional or subject to as little as possible. Unconditional means that a contract isn’t subject to a building inspection, finance, selling another property etc. If you can get your building inspection done prior to offering and have your finance approved, this can be a very strong incentive for a seller to sign and put the sold sticker up straight away.
Consider letting the agent pass on your circumstances. You’d be surprised how many sellers I’ve dealt with over the years who like to know who is going to own their property after they’ve moved.
It’s important to note that if you’re not able to do points 2 and 3 – DON’T! These are only handy hints and they only work if you’re able to do them.
The points also work in reverse if a seller wants you to come to their price. You can then start to be more rigid with settlement date (perhaps you want to stretch it out so that rent increases can be completed) or deposit (perhaps you want to put down NIL deposit so that your cash isn’t tied up).
Contracts are like living breathing organisms and they’re open to being changed, amended and reworded so that they best suit the parties involved. Before you sign any contract make sure the agent takes the time to explain it and that you’ve read every part of it. Where possible, take it to your conveyancer or solicitor to check over.
Real estate agents – these points are important for you to note too in trying to get your contracts to come together!
Happy purchasing!
Kirsty
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
Just this morning a friend called a service provider and was told by his office that he’d call back in “10 minutes”. 30 minutes later, he was on the phone to let her know that he’d call back “in an hour”. 2 ¼ hours later, she’s still waiting for his call.
Two broken promises within the first 3 hours of the day. How keen do you think she is to give him her business now?
Wouldn’t it have been easier for his office to say that he would “call her back”, or “call her today”.
Then when he’d called 30 minutes later to let her know he couldn’t help her immediately she would have been pleasantly surprised rather than thinking “is this your definition of 10 minutes?”
What’s more, he doubled the mistake by making yet another promise (which was soon to be broken).
My advice:
Don’t allow others to make promises on your behalf.
Don’t make promises where you don’t have to.
When you do make a promise – KEEP IT (write it down, tattoo it on your arm, put a reminder in your phone, figure out a way to make sure you keep your promises, or let the person know that you can’t (prior to the promise elapsing)
Learn what a promise is. A promise is a claim that you’ll do something. Don’t feel like you need to say “I promise” for it to be a promise, all you need to say is “I will”.
And finally – just remember the old adage that promises are like babies… easy to make, hard to deliver.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
I’ve worked in real estate since I was 15 years old. One of the main reasons I wanted to open my own agency at the age of 21 was that I was aware that not all real estate agents are equal. Some are dreams, some are nightmares and many are in the middle. I get asked all the time – “how do I find a dream agent to sell my home?”, so this is what I’d look for in trying to find my dream agent.
The dream agent shows me the price
An agent who can SHOW me why they’re saying they can sell my home for a certain price. The way they would need to show me would be by showing me what comparable properties had sold within the past 3 – 6 months (I’d want to see addresses, photos and sale prices). Even better if they have personally or at least their company have been responsible for some of these sales.
The nightmare agent tells me the price
I don’t want an agent who:
Finds out and then tells me the price I want to hear
Finds out the other agent quoted prices and then quotes a selling price higher to get the business
Plucks a price out of their head
Bases their price on properties that are not comparable to mine
The dream agent’s marketing is first rate
I want to look at your website, your property presentations on real estate portals (like realestate.com.au), your brochures, your sign boards, your newspaper advertisements and see:
Consistency of branding
Quality
Readability
Descriptive eye catching wording
The nightmare agent’s marketing isn’t flexible
I want options and I want to know why you recommend that marketing option for my property, not a one size fits all approach.
The dream agent talks with me
Their presentation is question based and they take time to find out about me and what I’m looking for. They know their stuff, but they find out what areas I’m most concerned about before launching into a recorded message-like presentation.
The nightmare agent talks at me
Their presentation is said at me and they speak more than 80% of the time.
The dream agent is a natural negotiator
I can test this out by asking them to drop their commission (if they don’t negotiate hard for their money, what are they going to do when it comes to negotiating for mine?). I can also test their negotiation skills if I’ve ever bought from them before – did they get top dollar out of me then?
The nightmare agent is a natural regurgitator
The other agent offered you 20% off? Well we can offer you 25%... The other agent said they’d do that? Well I can do better.
The dream agent cares
I can test this out by showing up 10 minutes before one of their scheduled open homes and watching them arrive, set up and conduct the open. I can test it by taking note of any promises they make (they’ll call me Monday, they’ll find that information out by Wednesday) and see if they live up to it.
The nightmare agent talks at me
The nightmare agent screams in at the last minute for an open home, doesn’t tell me their name and doesn’t follow up.
The dream agent has fans
And they’re more than happy to let me know about their fans by showing me testimonials (lots of glowing ones) and by allowing me to contact people they’ve sold houses for in the past month.
The nightmare agent has people fanatically trying to track them down
(to complain)
The dream agent remembers me
Long after the sale.
The nightmare agent develops acute amnesia
As soon as they get paid.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
Winston Churchill’s often misquoted as giving an entire speech where all he said was “never give up” three times, in fact he said the following and a little more: "Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” En Vogue and about a squillion others all know that it “‘aint over til the fat lady sings”! And even Rick Astley said he was “Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down”… (yes, that was indeed a lame way to get an 80’s superstar into the blog!)
But you know what…with all of these stellar reference points, I’m still surprised at how much people do give up.
The PR firm who recent didn’t reply to my email asking them about their services.
The real estate agent who told me that a property I had asked him to value was worth: “what it cost me, plus whatever profit I would be happy with”.
And my saddest quitter for the week showed themselves to me when I recently ran a contest to have a logo designed on www.99designs.com where we received over 180 entries. A few days into the contest I asked for a re-tweak on one of my favourite submissions. I didn’t hear anything back for a few days only to find out via a message later on that they’d “given up” when they’d seen the quality of the other entries. Funny thing – they were my favourite entry at the time they “gave up” and still ended up being my second favourite over all. If they’d not given up and been able to do the re-tweak, who knows what could have happened!
Now… I don’t believe you should never give up, have a read of Seth Godin’s book the Dip and you’ll see what I mean here… but in these cases please try:
1.Not to give up new business when it’s staring you right in the eye asking to deposit money into your account.
2.Not to give up when your “giving-up” reply will only serve to infuriate your client.
3.Not to give up when you’re just about to cross the finish line!
Today how bout we all let the only giving up you do be to “give it up” to someone in your life who rarely gives up!
I’ll start by giving it up to:
Lara Solomon, author of the hot on the shelves new business book Brand New Day who shares in diary format all the ups and downs of launching her Mocks business (think: Bridget Jones meets Richard Branson). Lara could have given up so many times, but she kept on plugging away and her story’s darn inspirational.
Rudy Ruettiger, whose story of never giving up on his dream to play football with Notre Dame was so inspirationally told in the 1993 movie Rudy.
Chistopher Reeve, the real superman to so many of us especially through his worth raising funds for spinal chord research in his last years with us.
Tim Ferriss, whose book – the Four Hour Work Week was turned down by 14 publishers (perhaps because the initial title was Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit!). Tim didn’t give up though and now his book has been translated into 31 langugages and was simultaneously the #1 book in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
You want proof? I just called up my 19 year old –Gen Y – Nintendo loving brother at home on his day off from work. He accidentally answered the phone: “Thank you for calling <>”.
And don’t think my brother is anything other than a very-gen-y 19 year old. He’s not the first person racing to get in the office door every morning, but his training is so well imbedded that it’s with him even outside of the job.
C’mon – if McDonalds restaurant’s the world over are fundamentally run by 16 year olds your Gen Y’s can be trained, it may just take a little longer before it’s habit.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
I was very thankful tonight to be in a room surrounded by creative, energised people in my hometown of Launceston, Tasmania.There were ideas circulating a plenty, but one of them still has me thinking at 11.17pm, so I decided that had to be the one I shared with you.
Graeme Walker, founder of Walker Designs (link to www.walkerdesigns.com.au) spoke so passionately about one of his mentors and a tool this mentor had taught him that the entire room went silent as he shared what he'd learnt. The tool was something I interpreted as a great way to prioritise things in your life.
The lesson was simple, but beautifully succinct in it's simplicity and was: figure out what you want your tombstone to say at the end of your life, and when faced with a dilemma, remember back to your tombstone and chose the option that leads towards what you want it to say.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
A few years back someone came up to me and asked if I was “Real Estate Kirsty”.
Now to me, “Real Estate Kirsty” sounded like she should have her own action figure and superhero costume, it was quite a bizarre moment really.
But the more I thought about it, the more I liked it because:
It was spot on for my branding at the time in my local area
It meant that this person remembered not only my name but what I did
It was soo much better than “real estate KRISTY”!
So what would your action figure be? Lawyer Simone, Jack of All Trades Jack, Hairdressing Harry?
But more so, are people associating you with what you do. If someone needed a real estate agent, I would have loved for them to have thought of “Real Estate Kirsty” first. What or who do your potential clients think of when they think of your industry?
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
All you need to do is submit your best tip for real estate (one or two sentences only) here: www.kirstydunphey.com/contact.html along with your name, your website or blog address and where in the world you’re from. Or leave a comment on this blog with your tip and details.
The next 100 best tips will win your choice of our open home, databasing or property management section from 1,001 tips and will have their tip featured in a “user generated” section (a bonus section to be sent to all purchasers) of 1,001 tips along with a link to their website or blog.
Each entry will win a 30 day gift subscription to www.reallysold.com and while you can enter as many times as you like, you’ll only win one 30 day subscription per person.
Entries close 18 December, 2008 and winners will be chosen at Kirsty’s discretion. Winners notified by 20 December, 2008.
Covering all areas of real estate this program will be a huge asset to new agents, however those who have been in the industry for years will still find heaps of ideas to improve their careers.
Each week a new section of the guide will be delivered to your email inbox allowing you to work through it then and there, or save it for time when you want to address: Your Open Homes, Systemization, Dealing with Investors or any of the other categories.
As well as tips from Kirsty this program features - Dirk Zeller, David Knox, John McGrath, Pat Mesiti, John Shackleton, Ron White, Rich Levin, Darryl Davis, Richard Robbins, Colin Dick, Malcom Riley, Amber Werchon and many more.
reallysold.com makes writing copy for your real estate advertisements - either sales or property management - really easy! No longer will you need to sit and wrack your brain waiting for inspiration.
We give you the inspiration and save you the perspiration by creating your headings, providing you catch phrases and enhancing the words you already use. Take the tour to see how easy it can be!
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
As Ziz Ziglar eloquently recaps when you hire somebody smarter than yourself, you prove you are smarter than they are. One of the best lessons I’ve ever been taught in managing people is that A-grade manager’s hire A-grade people, B-grade managers hire C-grade people. If you need to be the smartest person in the room at all times, get used to your business growth stagnating and constantly hearing the words “If I want something done right… come out of your mouth.
Don’t share your knowledge within your industry
I was always asked by other real estate agents why I’d get on a stage (or go to lunch) and share everything I knew about real estate and about my business. Wasn’t I afraid that people were going to copy me? Number 1 – if you’re doing something exceptional, people will find out regardless, that’s the beauty and the downfall of word of mouth, nothing sensational stays a secret for long. Number 2 – people don’t implement every great idea they hear, as much as speakers would love them to, it just doesn’t happen. Number 3 – when you share a great idea, you don’t lose it, you just multiply it, and if you do it properly the person you’re sharing it with may have some great ideas on how you can improve your idea.
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." - Henry Ford
You have to be ruthless to get ahead
I have my own theories on different success styles but the more I meet successful people, the more I meet amazing, kind, generous, sharing people. In speaking to two different groups of real estate agents in New Zealand last week, the overwhelming response when I asked who was the person in their industry who they’d most like to become more like, was an agent by the name of Alison Aitken(a gun, but also incredibly well respected because of her ethics, standards and values).
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
He’s got a great blog with lots of useful resources and today I want to share one of my favourite parts with you.
Consider the question: What would you do, day-to-day, if you had $100 million in the bank? If still blocked, fill in the five “doing” spots with the following:
1 place to visit
1 thing to do before you die (a memory of a lifetime)
1 thing to do daily
1 thing to do weekly
1 thing you’ve always wanted to learn
Until I read this, I rarely thought about my wild-dream-style goals in terms of what I’d love to be doing daily or weekly. Most of my daily goals revolve around actions I believe I have to take that perhaps aren’t always the most fun stuff in the world (exercise, learning, eating correctly).
But if I had $100 million in the bank, what would I like to do daily? Thanks Tim, this put a whole new spin on my thinking.
And if you haven’t read the book I couldn’t recommend it more.
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of http://www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: http://www.kirstydunphey.com
I’ve recently been interviewing a whole range of successful people and one question I’ve taken to asking a lot lately is “if you could go into business with anyone alive or dead, who would it be?”. For me the answer is easy, today my answer is Walt Disney, tomorrow Richard Branson (a popular choice) the next day Barbara Corcoran. Other popular answers include Warren Buffet and Donald Trump and yet no-one has listed Lindsay Lohan! I’m shocked, so let me share with you why I think Li-Lo is a GREAT role model for any aspiring entrepreneur.
1. She started young
This girl got into her chosen field young and attacked it with gusto.
2. She has surrounded herself with geniuses
From Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday to the eternal Jane Fonda and always fabulous Felicity Hoffman in Georgia Rule, Lohan has been awash with potential mentors and other people who have “been there and done it”.
3. She’s willing to try new things
She sings, she acts and most recently she’s dating girls, being super skinny (and then not super skinny), she’s a red head, but she’ll try being a blonde, or a brunette, heck she’ll even give rehab a go.
4. Like 80% of all entrepreneurs, she’s a first born
5. She’s fiercely protective of her team
Recent comments on her personal blog show what Lindsay will do if you start messing with her sister!
6. She can put up with the insults flung her way
Brandon Davis’ highly quoted remarks that Li-Lo was a “fire crotch” didn’t even trip this stilettoed gal’s walk.
Yes, this is of course written with my tongue very firmly wedged in my cheek. My point, I swear I have one, is that you can learn something from almost anyone that crosses your path. Whether it’s the nightmare boss who teaches you how not to lead, Paris Hilton who shows us that anything is possible (yes, even being famous for doing nothing) or the long lasting words of a true business hero written in an amazing page turner – take the lesson in whatever form it comes, but don’t always expect that it’ll come from a Branson look alike.
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com.
Kirsty has joined forces with some of the biggest names in real estate worldwide to put together this 1,001 tips to improve, re-energise and re-style your real estate career guide.
Covering all areas of real estate this program will be a huge asset to new agents, however those who have been in the industry for years will still find heaps of ideas to improve their careers.
Here are just 6 tips from our 1,001!
New Agents
Each week when you view the new homes listed by your company – go through without finding out the listed price and estimate what you think it will sell for. Then once the home sells, grade yourself on how close you were to the sale price. Some agencies even make this into a competition with a monthly prize for the most accurate agent. Kirsty Dunphey
Set a daily time and place for prospecting. Don’t work your prospecting around your day. Instead, work your day around your prospecting. Dirk Zeller
Open Homes
Where are you on an average Friday night – say 7.00pm? At the pub? Home with your family? Having dinner with friends? Where are your clients who have their first open home the next morning. If we think about it we know they’re at home cleaning, panicking and generally stressing out. Alleviate what you can of this by sending them a simple text message or calling them with the message “Hi – I’m looking forward to a great open home tomorrow, see you there at 10.45am”. Kirsty Dunphey
Qualify - Ask quality questions not a quantity of questions! Yes this industry is about building relationships and I can’t stress that enough, but there is a fine line between spending too much time with the wrong people at an open home. Aleisha Peers
Databasing
“When is the best time to set up your database?” Prior to starting in real estate, with the second best time being right now. The earlier you start, the easier the set up is going to be, but if you don’t have a proper comprehensive database the second easiest time is right now and cannot be overlooked if you want to be truly successful. Kirsty Dunphey
To mine your resources effectively you have to put most of your effort toward contacts with the highest referral potential. Contrary to popular opinion, you can’t afford to treat all referral sources with equal attention. Unless you establish priorities, you won’t have the time or energy to devote to those sources who will benefit your business the most. Dirk Zeller
As well as tips from Kirsty this program features - John McGrath, Pat Mesiti, John Schackleton, Glen Coutinho, Peter Kakos, Jillian McGrath, Kirsty Spraggon, Craig Stephens, Amber Werchon, Karen Schmidt, Carly Crutchfield, Pete Williams, Paul Fenech, Candice Gillies, Aleisha Peers, Malcom Riley, Colin Dick, Tekla Kriddle, Katey Lane, Dirk Zeller, Ron White, David Knox, Rich Levin, Darryl Davis, Elizabeth Ward Small & Richard Robbins.
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
Is email ruining your life and your productivity? Ok, sure it may not be as dramatic as that… but if you’re heart beats a little faster every time you hear that tone your computer makes when you get mail, or if you’re checking your email every few minutes (hey, did you just go and check it while reading this sentence?) maybe there’s a few little things you can do to get your productivity (ie: your actual work) back up the priority list.
1. Get the news, when you want it
I looove newsletters but if I stopped to read each one as it came in, I’d never have any time at all. Instead I’ll sit down with a cocktail (or on a plane) once a week or every few weeks and read through the ones that grab my attention. To make sure I’m not bogged down with them in my inbox I can set up rules so that they go into a special folder in my inbox called (shock horror) “To Read”.
2. Alias it up
An even more advanced version of tip 1 (so that you don’t have to create a new rule for each newsletter) is to have a different email alias for your newsletter subscriptions. So you might be jane@rockstarrealestate.com but you might sign up to all your newsletters with janenews@rockstarrealestate.com. That way all your newsletters will automatically go into the folder you’ve set up.
3. Ditch it
Still on newsletters and regular mailings. Be a little cruel and ditch the ones you don’t read.
4. File like a crazy person
I like to keep my inbox empty or with only the most pressing items that need to be done that day. To do this, I’ve got about 5 folders set up that I file my work into. These ones work for me:
To do this week (and I have a diary note to check this once a week)
To do soon (I usually only check this once a month, but if I put something in here that has a specified time frame I’ll put a diary note in to remind myself)
Waiting on other people (so that I can keep track that what I’m delegating gets done, I find it’s easiest just to CC myself in on any emails that I delegate and pop them in this folder)
To read (which we’ve been through)
Funny (for the emails that make me giggle, it gives me somewhere to go back to when I need a pick up)
Delete (ok, so I didn’t make that folder up, but the only way to stay on top of your email these days is to put MOST email in here! Stop clogging up your system and your mind, deal with it and dump it)
Others (I have a few specific folders for different business ideas I’m working on, people I need to visit and other folders that work for me. You’ll figure out what works for you, just don’t go folder mad and have so many folders that you only file and never do the work!)
5. More on the Sydney Bristow (aliases)
I travel a lot, and when I’m away someone else (fabulous Megan) will check my email. If you’ve got your very own Megan, consider another email alias that you can give people as a contact in case of emergency email (I just use my hotmail account for this as it’s web based and I know that I can get quick access to it almost anywhere in the world).
6. Be Zen like
Keep your in box as empty as possible. I don’t care how brilliant you think you are at email, having 1,500 emails in your inbox is a recipe for disaster.
7. Just say no
If you’re constantly getting swamped by annoying emails (perhaps the ones that promised doom and gloom if you don’t pass them on to everyone you know within 4 seconds) just kindly let the repeat offenders (and they are usually repeat offenders) know that you’d prefer not to receive them anymore.
8. Recycle (good for the environment, and for your inbox)
In an ideal world you should only write the answer to a question once. From there you’ll blog it, or add it to your website’s FAQ or you’ll keep a template so that you can reuse it.
9. Don’t be a robot
On that last point, any standardised or template emails you send out should still sound like a human (not a robot) wrote them! Don’t be afraid to inject a bit of personality.
10. Delegate with style
If you pass an email onto someone else so that they can action it, CC the person who sent it to you in on this delegation so they know that you’ve done it and they know who the contact person is now. This covers your butt and lets the person know you’ve done something all in one step.
11. Break the addiction
Turn off your email program and just come back and check your emails say… twice a day. If the thought of doing this sends you into a cold sweat, just check for emails every hour to start off with. If you need to keep your email program open to work from say your calendar or to do lists just schedule the auto send and receive link so that you have to click it (and then hands off the button!)
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
Inspired by this post by Naomi Simson founder of redbaloondays.com.au where she said that when she walks into a room full of strangers at a networking opportunity she thinks: “Goody, a whole room of potential new friends”.
I like that as a potential thought, especially when the more introverted part of me is really thinking: “Goody, they catered this event really well and do you think that anyone will notice if I just stand in the corner, don’t talk to anyone and attack the canapé waitress each time she exits the kitchen?”
I love the topic of networking though and so I thought I’d list some other things you can get into the habit of thinking at a networking event (to overcome some of your perceived weaknesses):
If you’re an introvert challenge yourself by thinking:
“I can stop networking as soon as I’ve met 15 people and exchanged business cards”
“I can stop networking as soon as I’ve found out 5 pieces of personal information about people (children’s names, hobbies, company goals) and written them on the backs of those people’s business cards
“I can stop networking as soon as I’ve got reasons to write 10 hand written cards tomorrow when I get back to work to people I’ve met here tonight”
If you’ve got the opposite problem and you know you talk a little (ok a lot) at these sorts of events, challenge yourself by thinking:
“Over 50% of my night tonight will be spent silent” (remember the letters in silent spell listen!)
“I will end every sentence about myself tonight with a question for the person I’m talking to”
“How can I limit my elevator pitch to a fabulous 30 seconds?”
And if you have my problem and you’re overly fascinated by the munchies and cocktails on offer, rephrase the above goals so that you can eat one piece of food per 2 business cards exchanged.
Ultimately, in my mind, what I try to think when I walk into a networking situation is:
“How many of these people don’t know about my business?” (and will by the end of tonight)
“How many of these people are potential clients?”
“How many of these people know potential clients?”
“Who in the room can I become or refer a client for?” (reciprocity works wonders and the best way to get a referral is to give one!)
“Who in this room has done something I’d like to do” (ie: who can I learn from?)
Getting your thoughts straight before you head into the event really helps you clarify your goals for the night and remember, of course you can also go along to an event like this just to have fun. Don’t be afraid to forget the strategy for a night (but take business cards just in case)!
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
A survey of 500 people conducted by real estate copywriting site www.reallysold.com shows mixed results.
36% of people thought real estate agents were “generally trustworthy” with 38% unsure and 25% disagreeing with this statement.
Respondents stated that they would be most likely choose an agent to sell their home who they felt was the most trustworthy followed by one referred by friends and family and then the one they thought cared the most.Overwhelmingly people said they would not be swayed by the sale price an agent quoted or the commission they charged.
Promising results show that of those surveyed who had dealt with real estate agents, fewer than 8% had never had a good experience. There’s still work to come however with over 40% not ever having had an “exceptional” experience with a real estate agent. Just under 75% of respondents had previously had a bad experience with a real estate agent.
In excess of 88% remembered the name of the last real estate agency they dealt with, but around 10% fewer remembered the name of the person.
In excess of 35% thought that real estate agents had some improving to do in terms of the quality of the text and photography in their advertisements and the quality of an agent’s marketing and advertising is important or very important to 90% of people.
If an agent had a spelling mistake in their advertisement 12% would definitely not hire them while a further 55% would be less inclined to hire them as their agent.
Over 55% of people would call in 3 different agents to give their opinions if they were thinking of selling their property, less than 2% wouldn’t chose to use a real estate agent.
This survey was conducted online with 500 respondents 75% of which are based in Australia. Full survey report available online at: www.reallysold.com/2008survey.pdf
Survey conducted by www.reallysold.com, the world’s leading online real estate copy creation site. It assists real estate sales and property management agents in writing their property advertisement headings and copy. The entire process is done online in seconds and real estate agents have the ability to sign up for a complimentary 10 day trial of the product.
I was at a networking event last week for Anthill magazine’s top 30 entrepreneur’s under 30 (link to http://www.anthillonline.com/article_detail.php?id=684) and it reminded me of some of my favourite networking rules.
1. Practice makes polished
Be well prepared for the question “what do you do?” If you’re a bit of an introvert (like me) be a nerd and practice in front of the mirror or with a friend answering this question until you can get it out in 30 seconds or less.
Awesome on the night at this: Sarah Sammon, founder of www.SimplyRosePetals.com supplying the most fabulous and colourful rose petal wedding accessories I’ve ever seen.
2. Work it
Before you answer “what do you do” have a bit of a think about what you might like someone to say once you’ve said your answer. Do you want them to say “cool” or do you want them to ask questions about it or do you want them to say “I want to use your service”?
Rocked it on the night: Seb Maslin, founder of 199QUERY (you can mobile text message ANY question you like to this number and they’ll answer it for only $2.50). After Seb told me what he did I instantly wanted to check it out for myself.
3. Card up
Have your business cards at the ready and consider:
Not having your mobile number on your cards (so you can give it out to people specially and make them feel like a champ)
Writing a small note on someone’s business card if they tell you a detail that could be important later on like kids names, birthdays, favourite drinks.
Writing a small note on your own card when you give it to someone so that when they go home with their stack of cads they’ve got an even higher chance of remembering you from the bunch.
Failed miserably on the night: Me! I left my cards in Tassie (don’t tell any real estate agents or they’ll kick me out of the club!) but I made sure I followed up all the business cards I received on the night with a quick email or handwritten card within a few days.
4. Homework first
Before I work… er walk into any networking situation I like to know, to the best of my ability, who’s going to be in that room.For this event my homework was sending a hand written card prior to the event to the people I knew were going to be there (not always possible) and reading up on their bios.“Mini-stalking” like this gives you something to chat about instantly and avoids those oh so soul shattering silent “I don’t know anyone” moments when you walk into a room, it also kinda makes people feel a little special which is always nice. If you can’t do your homework prior to the night, keep your ears peeled while you’re there for interesting tidbits.
My new BFF: Tobi Skovron of www.petloo.com.au heard I liked shoes, remembered it, and used it as a talking point later in the night (his collection, as it were may even rival my own).
5. Be Different
Whatever you can do to stand out on the night or afterwards (in a professional way: not by Coyote Ugly style dancing on the bar) makes it more likely that your name will be remembered instead of you being “whatshername” I met at “that thing that time”.
Definitely Different David Stallard of www.platinumcare.com.au was constantly amusing on the night, laugh out loud funny, but also followed up the next week via email with some interesting suggestions for me on domain names I might like to register (following on from a joke on the evening).
And one final tip for those of you perhaps looking to organise a networking event of your own. Try to give people something to talk about afterwards.
My hero on the night: James Tuckerman, founder of Anthill magazine www.anthillonline.com who set up the night, chose the theme of a children’s birthday party for the evening, based on the fact that young entrepreneurs may give up part of their childhood to achieve at a young age. James certainly gave me some of my childhood back... think party hats, cheezles, fairy bread, beer (ok, not so childlike) and pass the parcel with costumes to boot. The event was fabulous, fun and completely memorable!
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
We recently held a motivational / business style conference in my home town of Launceston. It’s the fifth year we’ve held it and it was a huge success again. Each year I find I learn some really valuable lessons, not only from the speakers (who are always fantastic), but also just from helping put together the event with my co-organising superstars Ronald, Rob and Tim.
This year’s lessons for me were:
1. Marketing creativity doesn’t have to cost much more than a thought. When I walked two of our speakers to their rooms I was surprised to find that they’d been upgraded to gorgeous suites. When I thanked the Country Club Casino’s manager Rod for this he said there was no need to thank him. By upgrading these VIPs to suites they’d leave with a more favourable impression of his venue and hopefully tell others. Clever but simple Rod - I love it!
2. To rethink what I consider fundamental business skills. Our speakers this year were more diverse than ever. We had John Anderson (NZ: founder of Contiki), Justin Herald (Aust: who turned $50 into a multi million dollar business with Attitude) and Ron White (USA: Mr. Memory). When someone said to me prior to the event - “What does memory have to do with business?” I’m glad they were in the audience to hear Ron White meet over 50 people prior to the event and then rattle off each of their names from memory many times over during the evening. As Ron pointed out, if you’re the sales person, business owner or receptionist who can meet someone once and then see them again 6 months later and know their name, their hobbies and their kid’s name you’re far more likely to win their business.(to see what Ron’s amazing Memory in a Month is all about head here: http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=195&kbid=7167)
3. When someone’s heart is really behind a topic, their emotion can impact even more than the words they’re saying. John Anderson is one of the more emotional speakers I’ve heard and I was blown away by the reaction our audience had to a couple of his stories about his wife, some of Contiki’s more challenging times and what he does when he sees a Contiki bus now after having sold the company.
4. There are all sorts of ways to get things done and this fact was made obvious by John Anderson and Justin Herald. Both have phenomenal business stories to tell, but the two couldn’t be more different. It reminded me that when I see a Trump or a Packer and think, oh wow, I’m nothing like them, there’s hope for me and for every other unique entrepreneur out there to do things their own way.
5. Think before you speak. This one’s a bit of a personal lesson for me. I like to think I’m kind of funny sometimes and I said something to someone at the event which I found hilarious, but that wasn’t at all necessary - Oh Kirsty! I thought I’d outgrown this at age 16, but it seems as though I’m still a work in progress… aren’t we all though!?
6. Cliché’s often ring true. When I attended my first ever speaking event / conference I was told by a mentor that all I had to do was to take away one lesson from the event and I’d made my money’s worth. Since that time I’ve sat in the audience’s of some of the world’s finest and most acclaimed speakers (Tony Robbins, Denis Waitley, Les Hill, Seth Godin) and I’ve also sat in the audience of speakers you may not have heard of but who I consider to be world class (Marcelle Bernard, Ron Lee the corporate ninja, David Knox, Rick DeLuca, Eric Bailey, Anne McKevitt for a longer list see: http://www.kirstydunphey.com/lovetomeet.html) and I’ve learnt something valuable and powerful at almost every event I’ve ever been to, often worth ten times more than the price of admission. If you haven’t heard a speaker live on stage recently, get looking for an event to get your teeth stuck into! And if you can’t afford to see someone live, check out www.youtube.com and www.ted.com for some amazing keynotes online.
And that’s my wrap up for Success with Attitude 2008 our fifth, certainly not our last and absolutely one of my favourites!
Also: If you’re holding an event anywhere in the world, Ron White, Justin Herald and John Anderson are some of the most insightful and entertaining speakers you could choose from. I’d be happy to put you in contact with any of them, just
2. Your written systems (if they’re rigid, inflexible, un-personalised and can’t be changed with influence from your team and customers)
3. Your number one customer (if your business is too dependant upon having their custom)
4. The customer you’re dealing with right now (if you don’t have a service plan in place to nurture the relationship into the future)
5. Your best salesperson / employee (if they believe that they’re indispensable, worst still if you believe they are)
6. Your longest standing employee (if they can’t embrace change)
What could be a hidden asset?
1. Your customer complaints (they should scream to you: fix or implement a system here)
2. Your outgoing emails (many could serve as a blog post, an answer to a frequently answered question and a reason never to have to type that same email answering that same question ever again)
3. Your current customer when you only have a few (One delighted customer (if you do it right) can talk about you ten times more than 10 moderately satisfied ones)
4. Your suppliers (if there’s a hidden customer hiding there)
5. That plucky (translation: sometimes annoying) employee who just won’t shut up with all their great ideas (find a way to channel their creativity so that you don’t get frustrated, and so that you can farm any brilliance that may occur)
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
Earlier this week I went to see a health practitioner, let’s call him Dr. Chris. When I mentioned that I’d previously seen a different health practitioner, let’s call him Dr. Joe, to treat my ailment Dr. Chris then proceeded to tell me that Dr. Joe was every sort of evil under the sun and had probably ruined me for life with his service.
I left with a pretty uneasy feeling about Dr. Chris – I found the talk unprofessional, unnecessary and I left feeling no less confident about Dr. Joe! All Dr. Chris did was make me feel less confident in him.
So when is the right time to bad mouth your competitors?
When you really really want the client?
When you know for a certainty that your competitor is a really dodgy character?
When your client starts to bad mouth them first?
In short, NO NO NO!
Even if you really want the client, bad mouthing your competitor only makes you appear unprofessional. The alternative: Just talk up your own positive points (without saying you do it better than your competitor, that still counts as bad mouthing). Check out this link to see when bad-mouthing goes to a ridiculous level http://www.designersmind.com/creative-showcase/creative-airline-advertisements/. I also saw today Virgin Blue’s rewards program Velocity entered the grey zone in bad mouthing stating something to the effect of: “the new Qantas Frequent Flyer Rewards program proudly brought to you by Velocity” which reminded me a little of these airline adverts.
Even if you are 100% positive that your competitor is a dodgy character, bad mouthing them makes you look like even more of a dodgy character! The alternative: recommend that your client asks to speak to people who’ve dealt with whichever professional they are going to do business with, this way they can get the real truth about your competitor from their previous clients (be prepared though that this also means you recommend they speak to your clients!)
If your client starts to bad mouth your competitor, even then – don’t help them get stuck in! The alternative: tell your client what you would do in any situation where they have had bad previous dealings and see if that’s how they would like to be dealt with in the future.
On the flipside… if you’re this major company – you can make an entire ad campaign with Drew Barrymore’s paramour (sorry – but I love that rhyme) bad mouthing your competitors http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
But without Apple’s budget and ad-guys – you’re probably going to end up no more slick than this:
My preferred method? Do the opposite and find opportunities to congratulate your competitors. This worked exceptionally well for me in real estate. I’d make sure I knew a positive point about the agents I most regularly competed with so that I could say credibly something like: “Sue’s lovely, she writes really creative advertisements and she keeps the rest of us on our toes in that respect”. Client’s don’t expect it and most respect you for taking the high road.
And back to Dr. Chris and Dr. Joe, the first thing I did when I went home was let the friend who’d referred me to Dr. Chris know what he’d said about Dr. Joe. Being that Dr. Joe’s a personal friend of hers I’m not sure Dr. Chris will be getting too many other referrals from her.
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of http://www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: http://www.kirstydunphey.com
A lot of things bug me. One of them is seeing a company with a website that doesn’t have email @ that website. For example, their business card will read:
It just drives me insane that someone would go to the trouble of having a domain name, but not also have service@bucketoftrouble.com / james@bucketoftrouble.com etc as their email aliases.
While I’m ranting thought, let me tell you one thing that doesn’t bug me. Companies that make clever usage of their email aliases:
legendaryservice [at] atlassian.com reminded me how much I love interesting email aliases this morning (why am I typing [at] instead of using the @ - because this is a real email addresses – and I don’t want them to get besigued with spam)
What does it cost you to get another email alias set up so that Robyn at your work had the email:
Well, with my internet hosting set up, it wouldn’t cost me anything extra. You might find it costs a couple of extra dollars set up, once off.
But the benefits are: You make Robyn smile, you make Robyn more likely to want to give her email address out (and your company domain conversely) to everyone she knows, you make your customer smile, you show a bit of your personality. All good things if you ask me.
Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of http://www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: http://www.kirstydunphey.com
