Smart Agents magazine April 2024

2 The First Lady of Beverly Hills Real Estate ISSUE 8 | April 2024 Myra Nourmand page 2

Jumpstart Your Retirement with Patrick Grimes page 8

Email Marketing Tips with Emily McGuire page 40 Shift from Operator to Owner Business Coach Pete Mohr on the 5 Ps page 14

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In this April issue of Smart Agents magazine, we share insights and strategies from our interviews with top performers in the real estate space. From client relationships to email marketing and business development, this edition encourages a holistic approach to business and personal growth. Our feature article catches up with podcast guest Myra Nourmand, dubbed the First Lady of Beverly Hills real estate, to learn more about her client-centered success story. Nourmand encourages us to cultivate genuine relationships as a way to weather market fluctuations and shares with us the key principles that underpin enduring success and client loyalty. Inspiring growth across business and finances, we hear from Patrick Grimes, who shares invaluable insights for real estate agents and investors on diversifying investment portfolios with real estate to secure a stable financial future. Business coach Pete Mohr shares his transformative strategy for entrepreneurs seeking to transition from day- to-day operators to visionary owners, emphasizing the importance of aligning Promise, Products, Process, People, and Profit. These 5 P’s are also the inspiration for our Swipe Files in this issue, a comprehensive workbook that guides us towards achieving both financial success and creative freedom. Also in this issue, Jon Holsten advocates for adaptability and continuous learning as the bedrock of success, while Emily McGuire’s deep dive into effective email marketing strategies aims to enhance client engagement and trust. Robert Kennedy underscores the importance of storytelling and innovative marketing in forging meaningful connections and navigating the market’s dynamic nature. We invite you to engage with these stories and apply their lessons in your journey towards excellence in real estate. Join the Smart Agents conversation on Instagram (@smartagents) and let’s continue to share, learn, and grow together as a community dedicated to innovation, leadership, and success.

Charles Curry SmartAgents

Jumpstart Your Retirement: Tips for Growing a Passive Investment Portfolio 8 The Winning Strategies of Myra Nourmand 2

The First Lady of Beverly Hills Real Estate Myra Nourmand

with Patrick Grimes

How to Use Gated Content to Build Your Email Contact List Email Marketing Tips for Real Estate Success 40 Emily McGuire Jon Holsten Talks about Achieving Top-Notch Success in Real Estate 32 SWIPE FILES 24 The 5 Ps Strategy Workbook Business Coach Pete Mohr on the 5 Ps 17 Moving from Operator to Owner 15 Jon Holsten Pete Mohr

50 with

Creating Customer Connections through Storytelling

Robert Kennedy III

m The Winning Strategies of Myra Nourmand: The First Lady of Beverly Hills Real Estate It only takes a few moments of listening to Myra Nourmand, author of Homemaker to Breadwinner and First Lady of Beverly Hills real estate, to know that you are in the presence of the real deal. In a landscape with so many voices shouting pithy slogans or handy shortcuts to aid you in recreating their achievements, Nourmand delivers something richer, more honest, and applicable in any industry. From the Smart Agents Podcast Archives

m Beverly Hills, CA nourmand.com MyraNourmandRealEstate myranourmandestates myra-nourmand-luxury- real-estate-agent Myra Nourmand 3

Myra Nourmand

From a Reluctant Start to Staying Power She says, “My model is what’s old is new again,” and her story shows that what’s old is really what has staying power. Full of the steady knowledge and confidence that only decades of hard work and courage yield, Myra Nourmand’s generation- spanning career has much to teach us about playing the long game and winning. Like many of the most memorable success stories, Nourmand’s story begins with hardship. Being born in a displaced persons camp in Germany, her parents were Holocaust survivors who eventually came to the United States. Sadly, however, Nourmand’s father would die in front of her from a heart attack. She says watching how hard her parents worked to start their new life in the States, compounded by this tragic loss, locked her work ethic into place as she felt driven to care for her mother. Nourmand’s past would be a launch pad for a real estate career she was reluctant to start. Working various positions in sales through school, she met her husband while attending the University of Buffalo. She married at 21, and by the time she was 30, she was a stay-at-home mom to three. Eventually moving across the country to California, Nourmand remembers she and her husband dreaming about the jobs they would get, only to be met with a declining economy that wasn’t exactly prioritizing new faces. However, they got through: Nourmand using her work ethic and persistence to help support the family and

her husband, who would eventually open Nourmand and Associates with five other people. Of the time, she says, “We were as green as they come and very young and hungry.” Meanwhile, Nourmand worked as a stay- at-home mom; she says, “I loved my job ... I was raising three kids, very involved in the community [through their activities].” She remembers, “I had a T-shirt that said, ‘If a woman’s place is in the home, why am I always in the car.’” It was this involvement with her community that would push Nourmand to make a move into real estate. After a year or two, her husband said, “Myra, get your license. This is ridiculous. People know you. They trust you. You would be amazing.” At first, she said no, in part because the idea of working in her husband’s business sounded like a “formula for failure.” But he insisted that she need only sell to her friends, and when she felt like it, and so Nourmand finally agreed. house,’ ‘I’m getting divorced. I am moving out of the area,’ ‘I want to change schools,’ And I’d get on the phone and call my husband, and I’d say, ‘Who do you have in your office who can handle this?’ She says: As I was sitting with [other] mothers, I would hear them say, ‘I need a bigger

Standing Out with a Helping Mindset in a Sea of Sharks Not one to do something halfway, Nourmand says, “The minute I got my license, I decided that I need to let people know what I can do.” She took to her children’s school roster and started calling people to schedule coffee dates. She’d say, “I want to tell you about what I’m

doing today, and maybe you can help me.” Nourmand explains it is: “human nature, when you open up a dialogue like this that [they’ll] want to help, most people will say, ‘Sure, come on over.’” In turn, she made sure to make it worth their time by bringing a thank-you gift. After only five meetings, Nourmand was in business. Despite a huge first transaction, Nourmand recalls an acquaintance of her husband’s saying, “Myra, you’re going to run for the hills. This is not a business for somebody like you. You’re too nice. You’re too sensitive; you’re too kind. You’re going to be

eaten up by the sharks in this business.” Just the opposite was true. It turned out that Nourmand’s spirit of generosity, reciprocity, and putting relationships first made her stand out in the sea of sharks. “I was flooded with people who said, come on over.”

She says: This is a people business. This is not just an acre equals 43,650 sq. ft.. It’s an emotional business. You are selling the most expensive commodity that these people own: a house where they live. It’s emotional, and it takes a lot of handholding because people are scared; they’re nervous.

Myra Nourmand

Nourmand shows that putting people first isn’t just about giving gifts and tapping into your existing connections; it is about micromotions that signify that you care and mount up to take you that extra mile. From presenting offers in person to dissuading clients from purchasing properties that she felt weren’t right for them, Nourmand emphasizes that “it’s not just about the commission, it’s about the relationship.” And it’s why she only works with repeat clients now—even having made seven sales for the same client over 30 years. Of course, building relationships that turn into repeat customers isn’t just taking action but also being a resource. “You need to be the expert. You need to show them that you will guide them in a very, very easy way for them to make the right decision,” Nourmand says. She explains that with the assessability of information, if you aren’t more informed than your client, they don’t need you, and your business depends on them needing you. While becoming the expert your clients need requires hard work, Nourmand says, “This isn’t rocket science; if you put your effort into this, there’s a way to be successful.” Starting before the technological boom of the late 90s and early 2000s, Nourmand says she learned to do things the long way, stopping at payphones to make calls when hitting the pavement and “driving up and down every street to see if any [for sale signs were] being put out.” She explains that while today’s tools can make the job much easier, it’s important not to lose that human touch that only good old- fashioned hard work brings. She says, “Learn your craft, go see as many houses you as you can…make a mental image of everything you’ve seen. How big the lot was, how big the house was, its amenities, the location… even if you don’t have a buyer.” Learning requires time, which Nourmand has noticed isn’t always what those new to the field expect. She cautions not to anticipate the results you see on “reality” TV and that it’s important to note that Noumand’s insights come from the other side of a decades-long successful career that started at a very different time. She says: There’s no separation today between work and pleasure and family time because everybody has an email, a text, [and] a phone. So you have to be able to understand how fast life is moving, and you have to be there to be able to There’s no separation today between work and pleasure and family time because everybody has an email, a text, [and] a phone. So you have to be able to understand how fast life is moving, and you have to be there to be able to move as quickly… It’s nonstop, and you have to be prepared for it if you’re going to be successful.

But how do you keep up in these fast- moving and often unprecedented times? Unsurprisingly, Nourmand has some ideas. “You have to find out when is that biological clock in you the sharpest… and the most productive, and you work with that.” While elements of the job can’t be done anytime, Nourmand suggests finding ways to tackle those tasks you can self- pace to the time of day that works best for you. When considering things like how to respond to restrictions from the pandemic that at least temporarily brought old marketing strategies to a halt, Nourmand says,” Our job is to be a chameleon and to be able ... to evolve and to change with what has been given to us.” Myra Nourmand’s story demonstrates the long-term payout of a client-centered approach supported by hard work. As she appropriately puts it, “By being ethical, by being honest, by being hardworking, and by being an expert,” you are sure to succeed. By bypassing what’s quick, easy, and flashy for what’s genuine, right, and generous, Nourmand’s career built itself. In Nourmand’s story, we find that large price tags are not the true marker of a successful career; they are the byproduct. Follow Up on the First Lady After our initial interview, Smart Agents contacted Myra Nourmand to see how business has changed three years later. Referencing the ongoing global conflicts, interest rates over 6%, and the upcoming 2024 Presidential election, Nourmand says, “Houses [are taking] longer to sell, and home prices have reduced considerably.” In her market specifically, she adds that Measure ULA (also known as the ‘Mansion Tax’) has affected sellers with properties over $5 million. “[Sellers] are

unenthusiastic about paying higher tax on their profits and then higher interest rates when they buy their next home,” she says. While this creates new challenges, Nourmand says that comes with the territory, “the ability to evolve is required 24/7. No matter what is thrown at you … you need to stay creative, work harder, and work smarter,” she explains. It’s also inspiring sellers to get innovative, offering things like “seller financing to offset the high-interest rates” and “providing leases with option-to-buy terms.” Nourmand credits a positive outlook with her ability to stay responsive to ever-changing markets and in the face of challenges. She says, “ I have always believed in the silver lining and that no storm lasts forever…As long as you are healthy and are doing the best job you can, you will succeed. Enthusiasm, honesty, and hard work pays off.” Reflecting on her inspiring career and the legacy she hopes to leave behind, she has no regrets: “I don’t think there is anything I’d like to change in the way that I have done my business in the past four decades.” Nourmand explains, “My business has always been full of referrals and repeat clients who feel I have done a good job.” Those repeat customers are all the proof she needs that her efforts have been worth it. It all comes down to meeting the needs of each client at each moment, and doing so will inevitably build a strong referral network of repeat business over time. “A pebble thrown in the water creates a ripple that gets larger and larger. That’s how I see my business,” Nourmand says. “My network has become larger every decade from doing a good job. The rewards are plentiful. Do the right thing, be fair, be honest.”

p Jumpstart Your Retirement: Tips for Growing a Passive Investment Portfolio Patrick Grimes, a real estate investor specializing in assisting busy professionals to diversify their investment portfolios and include non-correlated investment opportunities, was recently featured as a guest on the Smart Agents podcast. In addition to his other accomplishments in the real estate industry, Patrick is the founder and CEO of InvestOnMainStreet. com and the co-author of the book, Persistence, Pivots and Game Changers, Turning Challenges into Opportunities, an Amazon bestseller. Patrick first got involved in real estate investing back in 2007, but it wasn’t a path he foresaw himself taking as he was growing up. He describes himself as “your unsuspecting real estate investor” who was “a geek as a kid” with a fascination for “playing with Legos, taking apart VCRs (if you remember what those were), and making electronics up and [throughout] high school.” In college, he decided to become a robotics engineer because he was still intrigued by what design and automation could accomplish across a range of industries. The first company Patrick was employed by was a machine design firm specializing in manufacturing automation. The owner of that business, Dave Karlberg, started investing in real estate with Patrick back in 2007 and still does to this day. Dave once revealed to Patrick that “his only regret was not buying more real estate sooner.” Patrick confides the conversation “really stuck with me because he said that high tech is fun, it’s cognitively rewarding” but like working in many other highly skilled professions, that alone isn’t going to get you set for early retirement or have “your family set for success” in the future in the way that you want. Patrick claims he has never forgotten that advice and credits those words from a trusted mentor and friend to getting him into real estate full- time.

p Los Angeles, CA investonmainstreet.com/ meet-the-team/ patricksgrimes Patrick Grimes 9

Patrick Grimes

Recovering from the 2007 Housing Market Collapse Patrick recalls that when he first got into real estate investing in 2007, the market was booming and had been for well over a year. He describes the prevailing attitude as being “the market was never going to go down ... It was only ever going to go up and you could leverage everything to the hilt ... ” Being eager to dive in and make his mark, Patrick admits he did very high leverage, estimating a “90% loan to value.” That was not uncommon at the time. He also purchased land in a pre- development using a personal guarantee, which he now acknowledges he didn’t fully understand the ramifications of at the time. In short, it meant all of Patrick’s assets were put up as collateral to ensure that investment. He had unknowingly put himself in a precarious situation, “all in on one investment” with no diversification of his investments. When property values flipped in 2009-2010, his loan was sold to a predatory lender who Patrick says, “came after me and they wanted everything that I had because they could take it.” Patrick was high risk because all of his loans were cross-collateralized. He had pinned his future hopes of earning passive cashflow on the land he had purchased and instead, spent years paying off his debt. Looking back, Patrick realizes that the way he went about speculating, doing it on “a very insecure financial foundation where it could crumble and collapse and take everything” he had, created a difficult

set of circumstances he had to work years to extricate himself from. For a while, Patrick left his real estate investment dreams firmly in the rear mirror, concentrating instead on his original career choice, engineering. He earned a master’s degree in engineering and went on to get his master’s in business administration. Patrick enjoyed his work, finding it fun and challenging, but bigger dreams for his financial future kept nagging him. As he tells it, “But I couldn’t escape the fact that I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, and if you follow the breadcrumbs of the wealthy, it leads to real estate as being a significant part of their diversified portfolio.” Patrick found he was “at odds” with himself because even though he was working on interesting projects for game- changing companies including Apple, Facebook, and other high-tech startups, he still wasn’t satisfied. A researcher at heart, Patrick ultimately concluded that to build wealth, investment in “tax-advantaged, hard, tangible assets like real estate” is essential. He also knew he had to use a different approach to avoid another disaster like the one he had faced in 2007. So, 15 years later, Patrick ventured into real estate investing again, but his strategy was completely different. He focused on purchasing “income-generating real estate with fixed debt and low leverage.” He put large down payments on all of his investment properties. He had learned to take it slow and buy real estate that was already “cash flowing or needed a minimal lift to cash flow” and kept repeating the process. Patrick concedes it took time and patience, but his investment efforts paid off his second go-round.

Cross- Collateralization and What You Should Know Cross-collateralization happens when multiple properties are used to guarantee one loan or multiple loans. An example of this would be if an individual owns one property and wishes to buy a second property without using their assets to do so. The financial institution issuing the new loan can hold both properties as security. Like Patrick, investors often have cross- collateralized loans and don’t even realize it. This is just one reason why it is essential that you carefully read all loan contracts before signing them! If you wish to avoid cross-collateralization and the risks and restrictions that come with these types of loans, take out individual loans for each new acquisition whenever possible.

Tips for New Investors Patrick acknowledges that many people, particularly middle-class Americans, are often hesitant to begin investing because they realize they don’t understand exactly how the market works. According to Patrick, real estate professionals are in an advantageous position “to take some of the underused underutilized equity within their current real estate holdings and then participate in a 1031 exchange.” His firm manages such transactions as part of a recessionary acquisitions fund. He also enjoys helping those who have significant savings in an IRA or 401(k) retirement account, teaching them what to look for when choosing their own investment advisor, noting that administrators of employer- funded 401(k) accounts aren’t going to share this information with people because it cuts into the fees they collect on participants’ funds. Patrick maintains that being involved and being able to self-direct portions of your savings into funds like his company’s is all about diversification. As he puts it, the difference between his firm’s approach and traditional retirement savings is, “We help busy professionals, successful individuals ... diversify out of where the employers would have them in their 401(k)s and IRAs ... and give an alternative to being the DIY investor.”

Potential Benefits Although cross- collateralization loans give the banks more power over the lender and the properties they are borrowing money against, some investors find these types of loans tempting because they do not require the investor to put up their own money to acquire another property. This approach does have its drawbacks though as it can limit the ability to invest freely when the investor is presented with future investment opportunities.

Five Important Things for Agents & Investors to Understand

1 2 3 4 5

Cross-collateralization limits your financial flexibility because multiple loans the bank holds are dependent on one another. If you sell one property, the bank can require the proceeds to be directed toward paying down the balance on other loans within your portfolio, meaning you can lose the ability to spend your proceeds as you desire. When properties within your portfolio are interlinked due to cross-collateralization, the financial institution managing your loans may require that each property in your portfolio be reappraised every time a property is released. There can be significant fees associated with estimating the value of each property and this can become a costly process.

Investors generally prefer to take out interest-only loans, but as their debt grows with a particular lender, they may be offered only principal and interest loans for future expenditures.

Having cross-collateralized loans can make moving your business to another lender difficult and expensive. Loans that are guaranteed by multiple properties generally incur higher establishment fees. An investor who moves cross- collateralized properties from one lender to another may face substantial exit fees. Cross-collateralization means your loans (and properties) are in one shared portfolio. This also means that if one property goes up in value while the others decrease in value, you may see no net gain on your investments. The investor is unable to access the capital realized by the one property because the portfolio saw no overall increase in equity. Again, this could put the investor in a position where they have no access to ready cash when faced with promising investment opportunities.

p Ontario, Canada simplifyingentrepreneurship.com SimplifyingEntrepreneurship petermohr Pete Mohr

p Moving from Operator to Owner When bogged down in day-to- day operations, it can be easy to forget why you wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place. “We get into business because we have this dream. And the dream is a better life,” says Pete Mohr, a business coach with 28 years of entrepreneurial experience. His philosophy? “If you’re not living that better life, then why be a business owner?” BUSINESS COACH PETE MOHR ON THE 5 Ps

When you first went into business for yourself:

How did you envision spending your time?

How did you imagine owning a business would improve the quality of your life?

How close are you now to where you wanted to be then?

If your response to these questions is the feeling that there’s room for improvement, Mohr’s strategies might be of use. In a recent interview with Smart Agents, he shared his 5 Ps of business: Promise, Products, Process, People, and Profit.

5 P s the 17

Promise: The commitment your business makes to solve specific problems for its customers, setting the foundation for all operations.

R O

M I S E

C T U R D O

Product: The goods or services offered that directly fulfill the business’s promise to its customers.

Process: The systematic approach used to deliver products or services to customers, ensuring efficiency and satisfaction.

R O

C E S S

E O

E L P

People: The team and stakeholders involved in making the business’s promise a reality through their roles and contributions.

Profit: The financial success achieved by effectively aligning the promise, products, process, and people.

R O

F I T

The 5Ps were born from the belief that business owners should be able to spend most of their time working on their businesses instead of in them. In part, this is a mindset shift from operator to owner, one that often means letting go of control of some details, delegating, developing processes, and freeing up space from the day- to-day management to allow yourself to embody more of that visionary role. Mohr emphasizes the importance of simplifying entrepreneurship to achieve this goal, advocating for strategies that allow business owners to cut through the chaos of running their businesses and turn their frustrations into freedoms. Ultimately, the goal of the 5 Ps is to get the business to the level of profitability that allows for creative freedom. “We like those creative juices,” says Mohr, referring to entrepreneurs. “Most of us are sort of visionary in nature.” Alignment on the 5 Ps means that business is running efficiently and energy and attention can be directed to more visionary pursuits. Then you get to ask the fun questions, says Mohr: “And it’s like, how can I be creative? Well, now that I’ve got this, well, what do I want to do with it? Do I want to own some rental properties? Do I want to start another little sideline? Do I want to maybe open another office down the road?” Opening up that creative freedom allows you to pursue “Whatever those things are,” Mohr explains, that will be “uniquely yours.” The fifth P, profit, will be what opens the doors to that creative freedom, “but you can’t really start dreaming about that stuff and being creative until that fifth P is present.”

The 5 Ps Strategy Workbook MAKE THE MOVE FROM OWNER TO OPERATOR For this month’s swipe files, we’re sharing this breakdown of business coach Pete Mohr’s 5 Ps for business success. Use this questionnaire as a way to evaluate where you can optimize your business and workflow, and ultimately achieve greater profits. These 5 Ps are meant to create alignment with your business so you can live a life you love.

1: Promise UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROMISE: Define your commitment to your clients. _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ • What will you do for them? _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ • How will you make their life better? _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

Name the problem(s) you solve and for whom. (If you specialize in more than one niche, define this for each niche customer you serve.) _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ • What sets your business apart from competitors? _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

“It starts by understanding your promise and then aligning your products, your process, and your people to that promise so that you can obtain the right amount of profit ... I look at the promise as your external; it’s what are you telling your clients ... what’s their problem, how do you uniquely solve it different from all of your competitors, so that they can live a better life.” ~ Pete Mohr

2: Product

ALIGN PRODUCTS WITH YOUR PROMISE: • What are your unique products or ways that your method of service is uniquely valuable? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ • Do your offerings align with your promise? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ • Identify products/services that do not align and consider how you can evolve them (or the messaging around them) to fit your promise. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________

“[This step is about] making sure that all of the products that we bring into our store align with that [promise] ... that’s our thing. So, if you are a listing agent, understanding what kind of listing agent are you, and how your services and products all have to align with that promise, whatever that promise is.” ~ Pete Mohr

3: Process STREAMLINING YOUR PROCESS: • When working with you, what is your typical client’s journey? _____________________________ _____________________________ • How do you connect with leads? _____________________________ _____________________________ • How do you turn a lead into a client? _____________________________ _____________________________ • How do you close the deal? _____________________________ _____________________________

• Now outline or draw a map of the steps a typical client takes to go from problem (I need a larger home) to solution (I am closing on the home of my dreams!)? Make note of all the places that you and your expertise make the journey more simplified and direct. ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ • What are the steps in the journey above that can be turned into a repeatable process? ____________________________________ ____________________________________ • Is there room for improved efficiency and effectiveness within these steps? ____________________________________ ____________________________________

“What is the process that takes that customer from the problem that they have to their better life ... first of all, I’m gonna sell my home or I’m going to buy a home, right? And so now what? Well, what’s the search that’s going to get them to you ... when they open the door, what’s the experience? How is it different than anybody else?” ~ Pete Mohr

4: People

Teammates: • Who have been the best/worst teammates you’ve had? List the qualities that either drain your or energize you in terms of collaboration and team dynamics. _____________________________ _____________________________ • Use these qualities as your guide for bringing on team members. Where are you missing skillsets or qualities? _____________________________ _____________________________ • How can/do your current team members contribute to delivering your promise? _____________________________ _____________________________ Outsourcing: • What can’t you/your team do to deliver on your promise? _____________________________ _____________________________ • Are there services or other professionals who can help you fill that gap? _____________________________ _____________________________ • Are they reliable? Are they in alignment with your values? _____________________________ _____________________________ • Have you developed SOPs (standard operating procedures) and documentation that allow you to easily outsource? _____________________________ _____________________________

HARNESSING THE POWER OF PEOPLE: Ideal Clients : • Who is your ideal client? _____________________________ _____________________________ • Where are they from? How do they spend their time? What do they like? Where could they use support? _____________________________ _____________________________ • Does your promise resonate with the needs of your ideal clients? _____________________________ _____________________________

“Whether you’re delegating to an offshore admin assistant or whether you’re delegating to another agent to run the open house this Saturday, whatever the case is, the delegation has to be done with a clear and concise process involved, or else you don’t get the result.” ~ Pete Mohr

5: Profit

“Once you get through all those, the fifth P is profit. And until you get to that point, you can’t truly enjoy some of those freedoms that we talked about, the reasons you got into business in the first place. And when you do get to that level of profit and you have those first four really sort of honed down a little bit ... that’s where you can be creative again as an entrepreneur because part of being an entrepreneur is being creative too, right?” ~ Pete Mohr _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ • What comes to mind as keys to realign or optimize these elements to improve profitability? (Your answer here may be just a hypothesis at this point, but you can start by testing that hypothesis and then reiterate and refine based on results.) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ ENSURING PROFIT THROUGH ALIGNMENT: • Do your Promise, Products, Process, and People align? (Example: If your promise is a car, your products, prices, and people should be the parts of the vehicle that make it worth driving. Think about the machinery of your business, how well are the different parts doing their job?) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ • How is this alignment (or misalignment) impacting your profitability?

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J Keys to Overcoming the Odds and Achieving Success in Real Estate Jon Holsten, a real estate agent and founder of the coaching program Top- Notch Agents was recently interviewed by Smart Agents and shared the story of how he got his start as a real estate professional and how he is continuing to grow his career. While the Fort Collins, Colorado-based agent has had a flourishing career in real estate for more than a decade, it’s fair to say he tried his hand at many things before settling on real estate. After earning his degree from Colorado State University, he worked in journalism as a reporter, a news anchor, and a photographer. A few years after leaving school, he was married with a young family, and Jon soon realized that work as a novice reporter did not pay very well. The television station where he worked as an anchor covered crime and the justice system, which led to him pursuing a career in local law enforcement. Although he admits he did so “strictly for the money” he also says it “turned out to be a really great career” and during his 17-year tenure on the force, he made some great connections in his community. Eventually, Jon realized he was “trading hours for dollars” and that when he could no longer put in those hours, the paychecks would stop. What then? Jon realized he wanted more, he wanted to go into business for himself. He created a detailed business plan on a legal pad and then called in a group of 12 trusted friends he refers to as “my council of 12” and asked their advice about what sort of business would best suit his skills and personality. The overwhelming majority, 10 out of 12, told him he would regret it if he didn’t go into real estate.

J Windsor, CO topnotchagents.com JonHolstenRealtor jon-holsten-realtor Jon Holsten Jon’s Rookie Year Jon showed he had a willingness to listen and learn on day one: “I walked into my brokerage, and it was a high- performing brokerage, and I said, “Hey, just tell me what the pros do. You tell me what the high producers do, and that’s what I’m doing ... And I did, you know, I built a contact list.” Jon recalls how he “jumped into marketing” to his core demographic group, making a point of regularly connecting with those individuals every month in different ways so he could create a rapport that would ensure he was ‘top of mind’ whenever any of those contacts needed a realtor. This strategy yielded amazing results! Jon looks back at his record of having closed 47 deals his first year and admits he didn’t realize while he was in the moment how well he was doing. But now, he understands and appreciates how quickly he achieved success as an agent. Jon was not just a first-year wonder, far from it! Ten years on, Jon averages approximately 60-65 deals each year working “as a single agent with an administrator ... [and] a small team that kind of does their own thing” but comes together to support one another as needed. 33

Jon Holsten

Plan to Succeed Jon knew he had to make it so his family could survive, but he also had a plan and tons of ambition and willingness to learn and work! Jon explains that a large part of his overall plan included investing in his business so he would have the time and equipment needed to make a proper go of it: “I cashed in my retirement, so I’d have six months of living expenses and some extra to buy a computer and the right phone and some equipment, and I jumped.” He never treated his real estate career like a side gig, never working as an agent and in law enforcement on the same day. Committing completely to being an agent full-time meant Jon had to work at it, as he points out, “that’s just the bottom line.” As a result, Jon was “hungry to make it work” because he hadn’t left himself a second job to fall back on as a safety net. Looking back, Jon acknowledges that not having the “luxury of playing around ... really helped me in the end.” He realizes now that having to prioritize and work diligently at sharpening the skills required for his new career was a blessing.

The Five Keys to New Agent Success

When asked what he has learned are the essential elements to success, Jon admits that when he decided to go into real estate, he “didn’t really understand what I was getting into, but it worked out well.” Jon had a plan and committed to seeing his new career through. He didn’t dabble in real estate; he was determined to succeed as an agent. But Jon would say the most important thing in his favor was he knew why he wanted to be a great realtor.

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Know why you are choosing a career in real estate. Jon shares that without realizing it at the time, he knew why being a real estate agent was the perfect career choice for him. He enjoys networking, making connections, and “building relationships authentically.” He also genuinely cares about people.

Have the money to get your business started.

Although Jon didn’t have a lot of money in the bank, he had access to retirement funds he cashed in so that living expenses for him and his family were covered for six months. He was able to buy the equipment he needed and focus on building his business as an agent without the stress of worrying about how he would pay the daily costs of living. Have an existing sphere of influence in place. Jon’s rule of thumb is, “You should have a good contact list of at least a hundred people before you really jump into it.” What does he mean by that? Ask yourself, “If you went to the grocery store and you ran into somebody, would you have a conversation with them?” That’s a solid sphere of influence. Line up the right brokerage for you.

Jon stresses the importance of choosing a brokerage firm that will “help you, guide you, mentor you, take care of you, answer questions, and have a culture that’s outstanding.”

Be humbly teachable. Go in acknowledging that you don’t know what you are doing, yet. Listen, learn, and be open to a lifetime of learning and growing.

Mentoring & Top- Notch Agents Jon is excited about his current professional path which is leading him to transition into devoting more of his time and efforts to coaching through the online program he founded, Top-NotchAgents. com. He confides, “Top-Notch Agents came from ... understanding kind of where I came from and, maybe what helped me be successful.” Jon states without reservation, “I love real estate. I love showing property, writing contracts, and all that.” Yet, he will also tell you ... my passion is helping new agents and struggling agents get off the ground and get back going and or getting their career started in the right direction.” That was the impetus for creating his coaching program, to fulfill his desire to assist new agents who are going through the process of transitioning from a previous career to becoming real estate professionals, just as he did years ago. As he points out, their story is his story “so that’s why I can speak to that.” The goal of the mentoring program, according to Jon, is to provide new and struggling agents with all the skills they need to succeed in just 60 days. The tools are provided for participants willing to put in the necessary work. For example, the site includes a free assessment of just 13 questions agents are encouraged to take. The survey is designed to help you identify the issue that may be holding back your progress so that you can move forward. Jon knows there are lots of coaching programs out there for agents and is quick to point out what sets Top-Notch Agents apart, emphasizing that, “it’s just common- sense stuff.” Yet, while coaching often centers around false positivity and slogans like, ‘You’ve got this.’ This course is different, because the philosophy is, “Yeah, we’re in the weeds ... let’s do these specific things every day and you’ll grow a business that’s successful.”

The Importance of Cultivating Curiosity To learn from others and grow, it is necessary to have a teachable attitude. Even if you aren’t a new agent or a real estate beginner by any means, cultivating curiosity about new ideas, skills, and more can help you to continually grow and improve. All people have some level of teachability, but their openness to learning is often dictated by their curiosity. Do you consider yourself a curious person? To gauge how teachable you are, you can cultivate self-awareness by asking yourself questions like the following.

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Do you agree with the idea that no matter how expert someone is, there are always more things to learn? Do you consider yourself a good listener? Do you agree that listening and observing others with more experience and skill in a particular area can be a great way of learning how to do something better and more efficiently? Do you acknowledge you have strengths and weaknesses? Can you easily name areas where you’d like to improve your skillsets or is it difficult for you to admit that there are areas where you could improve? Do you enjoy learning and seeking out new challenges? Are you curious by nature and open to considering new perspectives?

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Once you attempt to learn a new skill, are you persistent, or do you tend to give up if you receive constructive criticism or find the learning activities to be difficult? Do you look for solutions or blame others or circumstances for failures? Are you willing to admit when you need assistance? Do you take accountability when you make a mistake?

These are just some examples of things to consider when thinking reflexively about how open you are to learning new things and being taught by others. Keep in mind that once you learn something, you must use it, and apply the skills you have gained in some meaningful way into your daily life. Remember the adage, ‘Use it, or lose it.’ Having a teachable attitude and approaching new things with curiosity is very important not only professionally, but also personally. Once we stop learning, we stop growing and stagnate. On the other hand, discovering new things and how to do them keeps us engaged and gives us a renewed sense of confidence!

Detroit, MI flourishgrit.com mcguireemily Emily McGuire

Email Marketing Tips for Real Estate Success Recently, Smart Agents interviewed Emily McGuire, an email marketing specialist with eight years of experience who is currently employed as a Customer Evangelist at AWeber. Emily has worked on email marketing campaign strategies with businesses big and small in several industries. In this article, we share Emily’s tips for building a quality lead and email marketing list as well as her thoughts on how real estate agents should go about creating the type of content their contacts will want to read.

Tips for Agents Looking to Build Their Email List If you are looking to build your email list, Emily offers multiple suggestions ranging from the straightforward, simple-ask approach to more tailored approaches using lead magnets and marketing funnels. 1. The Simple Ask One approach is to simply “Go for it and ask!” as Emily puts it. She’s encouraging agents to ask “anybody you come in contact with” if they’d like to be included in your email list. It’s as easy as: “Hey, do you want to be on my email list? Here’s the type of content I like to send out.” Emily asserts that this simple, upfront ask (make sure you also let people know what you are offering or the type of content you’ll be sharing) is “the best way” to grow your contact list. People appreciate transparency.

2. The Lead Magnet Emily’s second suggestion is to create a lead magnet that educates or assists your target subscribers, people interested in learning about and considering moving to the area you represent as an agent. Emily points out that people often overthink or spend too much time and effort creating the “perfect” enticement for people to join their contact list when in reality, it doesn’t take much. Some examples she gives of successful lead magnets for realtors are a moving checklist and a local guide—particularly if you live in an area that is witnessing a large influx of transplants from other cities or states. A downloadable PDF file as small as two pages will work nicely if the information it contains is considered valuable to your target audience. Quality is preferred over quantity as Emily shares, “I see the most impact of building a high-quality list, not just any email address, but the right email addresses.” 3. Qualifying Leads within Your Niche When asked what advice she has for real estate agents working in a niche market,

Emily McGuire

distinguishing yourself is vital. Emily maintains that in her experience she has found that “people want to know you so they can build trust in your abilities and character so that eventually they will feel comfortable working with you.” To start building that relationship with potential clients, she suggests that your first email should be a welcome email. Emily notes that subscribers are most engaged when they first sign up, so it’s important to act swiftly by welcoming them to your contact list and giving them “an introduction to who you are, and again, what makes you unique is going to be incredibly valuable.” Emily notes that too often new content creators get caught up in the idea that what they send out has to be perfect. As to the content, she recommends keeping a conversational tone and maintains that whenever possible it’s always good to share anecdotes about others, observing, “People love to hear stories about other people, individuals who are facing the same challenges they are but have found a way to overcome obstacles or difficulties.” She also shares these tips for giving your emails a less formal, more approachable tone, “think about it like you’re talking” and “ ... some copywriting tricks that people use are instead of typing out what you’re going to write, just record what you want to write and then transcribe it.” While Emily repeatedly emphasizes that email content does not need to be perfect, she does remind agents to check their grammar before sending emails out to avoid obvious misspellings, typos, or grammar mistakes so that your content always looks well-thought out and professional. Emily also advises keeping in mind the question your audience will undoubtedly be asking themselves from the moment they receive your email: What’s in it for me? Write for your audience. It’s perfectly fine to write about yourself, as Emily points out, they want to get to know you, to like and trust you! But if you are writing about yourself, ask this question: What’s in this copy that’s of value to my audience? How do they benefit from having this information?

she applauds agents who are targeting a specific segment of the population in their market. Focusing on platforms that have groups organized by area allows you to focus on leads that are actively looking to buy and sell in that specific area. Facebook is one option, Emily points out: “So, if you’re looking for leads in general, Facebook groups are a fantastic resource, especially as local guides. And so, if you create that lead magnet, just being active in a local Facebook group where people are asking for advice on moving and real estate” makes it relatively easy to find people who are willing to trade their contact information for your guide. Just make sure your lead magnet “is helpful and not super ‘salesy’,” cautions Emily. She warns against creating content that is one long sales pitch, noting people find it extremely annoying. You don’t want to work hard building up your email list just to have people unsubscribe in big numbers because you are going for the hard sell. You Are Your Brand: Let People Get to Know You! When discussing the type of content realtors should be creating, Emily observes that agents are their brand. Her recommendation for agents is to share “who you are and what makes you unique” ... noting that

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