Don’t Listen To The Arrogant Attention Whores — Just Skin Your Cat

As happens with blogging sometimes, certain topics inspire many to register their take. That’s what we do. Whether it’s real estate, loan, or tech oriented, it’s amazing how quickly certain subjects can morph into almost a spiritual debate.

Watching all the back and forth the last month or so has been, uh, enlightening — not.

I’m here to tell you, Bloodhound is all about making agents better at what they do. I adhere to that as my Bloodhound mission statement with whatever I write here, just as I do in my own house. Writing here is such an honor. The first thing readers realize is that most of us understand it’s not about us, but about you. This is a critical distinction when passing on expertise.

For example, as a youth baseball coach, (five all-star teams 🙂 ) I never told a kid he was stupid ‘cuz he hit a line drive other than how I’d taught him. On the contrary, I praised him for gettin’ the job done. There are so many ways to hit a baseball hard. But if you freeze frame the hitter at the point where ball meets bat? They pretty much look identical.

The same goes for real estate agents. Their success depends on one thing: How many prospects were they able to get themselves in front of on a consistent basis? In baseball parlance, how many at-bats do they get every week, month, year?

Wow, you made seven figures?! Yep. How’d you do it? The answer isn’t relevant. The target of the question did it — that’s what’s relevant. He skinned the cat. Now that you’ve discovered that fact, you can sit down with them and find out how. The next agent who impresses you with their income will have done it an entirely different way. Go figure.

We human types are funny. We figure out what works for us, then become evangelical about it. Billy Graham was never more passionate than those on either side of the discussions on SEO methods, what to call a lead (Are you serious?), cold calling/door knocking vs the internet, or whether 90% of Realtors should be roasted slowly via spit over burning coals. (I vote no.)

Those discussions are all helpful. We’re still learning about the best methods of driving traffic to our company sites and blogs. Opinions differ, and discussing those differences vigorously is almost always instructive, leading to improved bottom lines for those who care enough to act. My experience has been very good when each side doesn’t pretend their logic comes directly from the third stone tablet Moses lost on the way down the mountain.

Arrogance isn’t evidence. Attacking your reader’s IQ doesn’t help make your point. Results will make your point nicely, thank you.

Problem — we need to figure out how to skin the cat. (Apologies to cat lovers everywhere.)

Solution — great news — there are all kinds of ways to skin the cat.

And there’s the rub.

Web lead generators point to how consistently they’re able to provide leads for their clients. Bloggers say they don’t get nearly as many leads, but their leads are akin to a referral from a church friend. Folks who wouldn’t know a blog from a bog, point to their referral based business. The really old schoolers point to results gained from either cold calling, door knocking, or in rare instances, both.

The agent who’s either trying to figure out the business, or wanting to see measurably significant improvement shakes their head in frustration and confusion.

Where’s the beef?

They all deliver — and that’s the answer most agents don’t get, in my opinion. They’re looking for the one true gospel that’ll lift them to real estate heaven. Not happenin’ people.

All the above mentioned will produce acceptable results when done consistently, with hard work.

Yet there are some who insist on calling folks stupid for not buying into their model. Yer an idiot for not being a blogger. Bloggers are stupid ‘cuz they think what they do is prospecting. Cold calling & door knocking are only done by complete jerks. The world, it seems, is populated by stupid real estate agents who can’t see how smart these arrogant attention whores really are.

What a crock.

I don’t know ’bout you, but I’m sick of these jackasses.

Whatever happened to ‘this might work for you as it did for me, so you may want to try it’? Arrogance has never been attractive. Calling those who can’t quite make out your Divine Aura stupid doesn’t make your case stronger. It makes you look like you’re an attention whore.

Wait a minute, maybe we’re on to something there.

I know agents making huge money doing it all sorts of ways. Personally know them. No BS involved.

A cold caller in San Diego, one of the worst markets nationwide, will make $3/4 Million this year. He works 40-50 hours a week, and takes 3-4 weeks of out-of-state vacations yearly.

A guy in Phoenix who who makes, after expenses, seven figures every year, and does it via the airwaves. Oh, and he produces excellent results too. Superior results one might say.

A ‘farmer’ in Colorado who makes half a million a year. The internet? ‘Yeah, we have a site.’ 🙂

A few bloggers who will make $500,000-1 Million from that model alone.

A referral ‘sphere of influence’ freak, who has already done over 25 transactions this year.

An Idaho team who produces so many leads via their website, they’ve resorted to hiring a gal whose job is making the initial contact — eight hours a day. Go figure. Their conversion rate sucks, but when yer floatin’ in leads, your banker doesn’t ask you your batting average, know what I mean, Verne? He notices instead, the number of commas in your account.

Finally, I implore all the arrogant screamers out there to shut your pie holes. State your case, show your evidence, and let the chips fall. The more you insist on showcasing your arrogant distain for what you obviously consider the unwashed masses, the more pathetic you come across to thinking folk.

The real paradox? Some of these loudmouths really do know which way is north on the map. They get it every which way from Sunday, and can make a huge difference in your business. Yet their pompous tone and insistence on being taken as near deity turns people off they’d otherwise may have helped.

I make the following challenge to those for whom Old School models seem ineffectual.

Call 50 homeowners a day for three months. 30 calls means you connected with that many ‘hellos’. In three months, calling Mon-Fri you’ll have spoken with more than 3,200 people who can either tell you to go to hell, end up doing business with you, or referring you. If you’re really, really bad at it, and are only able to do business with about .30% of those 3,200+ hellos, you’ll have done nine transactions. At a median price of say, $250,000 @ 3% a side, that’s gross income of around $67,500 — or over a quarter million bucks a year.

Are you seriously gonna say you’re unable to make those numbers happen? Don’t say it out loud. Trust me, you can do it. I’ve trained agents in cold calling, and have found out some are better than others. Duh. But those who did it day in and day out — printed money. Period. This isn’t my opinion. But if you don’t want to do it, I don’t think you’re stupid. Everyone to their own methods.

Knock on 50 doors this spring and summer after 5 o’clock, and a 100 doors every Saturday. See above for results. Still, if that’s not your cup of tea, you’re not stupid. We all do what works for us, right?

Me? I choose all of the above. My blog and website are very profitable. Though my firm has ignored my hometown the last five years, I’m turning that spigot on again. We’ll be sending postcards and possibly letters followed up by — you guessed it — phone calls.

But as so many have said so loudly, that makes me an idiot. I guess since I’ve been prospecting via my blog and company website, that makes be an idiot squared. And sending postcards compounded by calling the same people? That just has to boost me (Lower me?) to felony stupid.

It’s been my Holy Grail since discovering the internet as a tool, to integrate Old School with the web as effectively as possible. It’s been working out fine — in fact it gets better almost as I can see it happening in real time. Still, that’s how I have chosen to work. It’s not the only way to skin the cat.

The next time one of those arrogant attention whores implies or actually calls you stupid ‘cuz you’re not buying their brand of Magic Juice, ignore them. Most of them don’t make in a couple years what my friends mentioned above make by Saint Patrick’s day every year.

Find what looks good to you. Stretch yourself if you’re a little uncomfortable. Be consistent. You’ll be successful in the end. It’s the consistently hard worker who skins most of the cats out there. And remember, nobody asks how you skinned the cat, until they’ve ascertained you actually skinned one in the first place.

If you make a ton of money and don’t follow my way of gettin’ things done, you’re not stupid.

I’ll leave that to all the arrogant attention whores out there. They’ll disappear soon enough.

Meanwhile, back at Results Ranch, I’m here to tell you this from the bottom of my Bawld heart.

Look into the mirror today, and quickly forget the past — at least the negative. Now decide what method(s) you’re gonna employ from this day forward and work them like a possessed banshee. You will succeed, I promise. The degree of your success will depend upon your commitment, consistency, and skill level.

I’m making this offer — open ’till 5 o’clock Monday afternoon PST.

I’ll personally consult with you via phone. We’ll set up weekly phone calls for a month. I’ll take the first five who speak up. The charge is lunch if we ever meet in person. It’s my way of giving back.

Let’s sit down together and see if we can’t arrange for some skinned cats.