Some of you know that my wife and I have been traveling the world. Twenty months ago, we decided that before we have kids, we needed to see the world. So we started planning and saving money and eventually the time came for us to leave. six months later we are back and we will never be the same. eighteen countries, 6 months, countless trains, planes, and of course automobiles. It was the adventure of a lifetime. I must say, without my real estate business, we would not have had the money to do it. Working 5 – 15 hours per week provided approximately $24,000 to fund the trip. I was even making money while I was gone that was paramount to getting two certifications in Scuba diving which is now a huge passion of mine. Real estate has been good to me and it has given my family a great opportunity to experience life to the fullest!

The start of this blog is because of the success I had at real estate while working another full time job. I want to share with other agents the tools and processes that I used working minimal hours per week to make what a lot of people make working full time. I worked 8-5 for another company and was left with early mornings, nights, and weekends to work on real estate which is common for many agents, especially new agents. I worked 5 – 15 hours per week on average selling homes. But I found a way to maximize my time, effort, and profits without sacrificing my commitment to my day job. I am a firm believer in fulfilling that commitment and not taking away from the employer that paid me for my work during the day.

So, where does that leave me now? Well, I feel like I am starting over with my real estate business. Of course this was a planned path but I don’t know if I realized that I would feel like I am at ground zero again. This is the perfect test for my past experience and to see how quickly and successfully I can restart my business. In other words, I am going to be my own guinea pig. I will document and blog about the process I will go through to rebuild my business and earn a living full time as a Realtor.

Where do I begin? I will start with the most basic and fundamental process, contacting and utilizing my sphere of influence. Your sphere of influence are the people you already know and have regular contact with. The good thing is I still have my contacts and the same sphere of influence I had before I left. My wife faithfully wrote a blog about our adventures that kept people appraised of our adventure and most said “we felt like we were there with you”. I hope that is what you experience here on seanaske.com. I am going to document my path back to success and I know it will come. It is about discipline and following the process. Of course, I don’t have it all figured out and I’m not perfect but you will see that during this process. I will share my success AND my failures. What works for me and what doesn’t. I encourage you to comment and add to the conversation.

Today it begins! I will be sending an email to all of my contacts to let them know that I am back in business and that I am asking them for their business or for referals of those they know. People are buying homes and I want to be their Realtor. Now, I just have to get in front of them!

As I put together my real estate training program, I am going over some of the biggest barriers I have personally encountered when it came to my success.

I remember the fear I had when a seller agreed to a listing presentation. Questions flooded my mind like, what am I going to present? What is my marketing plan? And how do I set myself apart from the competition? Even if I knew the answers to these, the question remained, how do I effectivley communicate my services and expertise?

Having the answers to these questions along with a plan and the proper tools to present my services is key to winning more listings.

So here is my question to you. What is your greatest need to win more listings? What areas do you feel you need to master to take your real estate business to the next level?

Feel free to respond via the comment area or via email. We can learn from one another and help each other have a great 2010!