Rob Minton - Renegade Millionaire Real Estate Agents

Deja Vu.

Post Written by Dan Kennedy

One of the silliest of all ‘reasons’ people have for un-plugging themselves from different sources of information and ideas is that what they’re reading or hearing is repetitive.

And one of the greatest lies of all time, taught as success gospel, is that “knowledge is power.”   It most certainly is not.  Some of the smartest, most educated, most academically credentialed people I’ve ever met are poor as church mouses, miserable, even bitter and resentful of the greater success of those “less qualified.”  Why doesn’t their superior knowledge actually equate to power or wealth?  Because rewards aren’t paid out for what you know. Rewards are earned by what you do. And it is common for people who know a lot less but do a lot more with what they do know to employ a lot of people who know a lot more but do a lot less.

Actually, most people know a lot. If you’ve ever met a fat doctor who smokes, it’s not because he never got the memo, or missed class the day they revealed that obesity and smoking kill you. He knows.  He just doesn’t act in accordance with his knowledge.

When you consider your continuing association with a person, an organization, a coaching program, a mastermind group, or a publication, or even a radio or TV program, you should evaluate it by many factors – not just one. You should consider  the inspirational value, not just the educational value. Does it prod you to do?  It is true that motivation without the foundations of knowledge, information and competence leads only to frustration. A highly motivated fellow with a golf swing absent good mechanics, that resembles a rusty barn door in a tornado, will never be pleased with his golf score, and getting more motivated won’t help. But all the knowledge in the world without sufficient motivation to boldly act on it, to implement it, to insist on its application, is valueless as well. The goal is not just knowledge; it is applied knowledge.  People very often fail despite making themselves huge repositories of knowledge. People rarely fail due to the habit of taking action on knowledge.

Repeated exposure to important ideas, information, inspirational examples and many applications of it all is pretty much necessary. The conscious mind stands as sentry to the much more powerful subconscious, turning away all input contrary to the already stored beliefs. It takes repeated exposure to the new, different or challenging to wear down the guards’ resistance. You may very well recognize that you’ve heard ‘it’ before. You may even technically know ‘it’.  But if you aren’t yet acting on ‘it’, then you need to keep having ‘it’ placed in front of you again and again and again. 

The lust for the “new” is not our most productive attribute. We are all easily bored with the familiar, easily seduced by the new – but successful people focus on implementation of the best. Gaining ever-deeper and more certain knowledge of what works is more useful than broad, superficial knowledge of many things or, worse, of flitting about endlessly and never building anything solid.

The WHY PEOPLE FAIL articles are provided by Dan S. Kennedy, serial entrepreneur, from-scratch multi-millionaire, speaker, consultant, coach, author of 13 books including the No B.S. series (www.NoBSBooks.com), and editor of The No B.S. Marketing Letter. WE HAVE ARRANGED A SPECIAL FREE GIFT FROM DAN FOR YOU including a 2-Month Free Membership in Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle, newsletters, audio CD’s and more: for information and to register, visit: http://www.freegiftfrom.com/robminton

Life Defining Moments

Post by Rob Minton
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When I first got my real estate license, I went to work for a very small real estate brokerage. Our office consisted of my broker, who was an awesome salesman, an administrative assistant and some mysterious agent who I never saw. I heard about him, but he never seemed to stop into the office or sell any homes.

My broker also owned a printing business. His real estate company shared office space in his printing business. There was no sign on the door for the real estate company. In addition, he didn't have his real estate business listed in the phone book. In addition, my broker wasn't a fan of marketing. His entire business was built around referrals.

During my years with him, he never once ran a lead generation advertisement. He never sent a customer newsletter. In fact, he never promoted himself in the public. He simply waited for referrals to come in from past clients, friends and his large network of business owners. I believe he would meet the definition of "old" school.

His setup was similar to most agents because he handled the listings and gave his buyer referrals to me. I improved my skills and became very good at helping buyers find and buy their homes.

Everything was going fine until...

One morning he stopped in the office and said, "Cancel any meetings you have today and grab your golf clubs!" We left the office and played 18 holes of golf. As always, we had a few beers as we played. My broker was an excellent golfer and he always beat me by a wide margin. I didn't really care because golf was never that important to me.

It was still early after we finished, so we headed to a bar that had an outdoor boccie court. We continued drinking and began to aggressively play boccie. I couldn't believe it, but I was actually beating him. I won the first game. So he challenged me to a second and I won again. He became very irritated because he never liked to lose, especially to me.

I started to trash talk a little bit because I was finally beating him at something. This must have been when the alcohol kicked in because he said the following to me:

"Who changes your kitty litter?"

This one sentence changed my life forever. It was one of my life defining moments. He basically was saying that he was responsible for all of my home sales and commissions because he gave me his buyer referrals. To be 100% honest, he was right. I was completely dependent upon him.

I was pissed to say the least. I vowed to start my own company and show him that I didn't need to have my kitty litter changed by anyone.

I immediately started looking for my own office. I found an ugly old office and rented it at $425 a month. I had a meeting with him and re-negotiated my commissions to a higher commission split because I would no longer accept his referrals and I would no longer use his office, supplies or administrative assistant. I was going to change my own kitty litter!

I began to study marketing and slowly but surely began selling homes on my own. Within a few short months, I finished the required classes to obtain my brokers license and started my own real estate brokerage.

Fast forward...

When I sold my real estate business, we were selling an average of 30 homes a month. This was the same number of homes my broker would sell in a year. My company had been ranked 4th on the fastest growing companies in Northeastern, Ohio. I proved that I didn't need his referrals and that I could build a business on my own.

Looking back, I now realize how important this "Kitty Litter" comment was for my personal development. It forced me to go out on my own and make things happen all by myself. Had he not said this to me, I probably would have continued working his buyer referrals. Who knows where I would be today. I'd probably still be working in a spare desk somewhere in his printing office.
Or more than likely, I would be out of business because his business model wasn't sustainable.

I now believe that we all have "life defining moments" like the one I shared within this article. In fact, I believe the recent real estate market crash has been a major life defining moment for many in our industry. Life defining moments are critical for our success because they force us to do things we wouldn't have done otherwise. I desperately wanted to beat my broker in the number of homes sold. I wanted to prove myself.This desire forced me to get out of my comfort zone and do things that I had never done before.

Many experts are now reporting that we have probably hit our market bottom. This is where you get to decide how you are going to deal with your life defining moment. You have a clean slate with your business right now. The market is at the bottom and will slowly but surely improve month after month going forward.

Will you come out of your comfort zone do whatever it takes?

Will you prove to the world that you can build an amazing business?

I certainly hope you answered YES!

How to Get Help From an Experienced Mentor

Post Written by Rob Minton
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Last week I was working away at my home office when a fax came through from my assistant. All incoming faxes go to the office first and she sorts out the faxes that need to get to me directly. Here is the fax I received that passed the sorting test by my assistant...

(Click on the image to enlarge)

This fax came from Andrei Crudu from Romania. It is awesome for several reasons. Here are the reasons why this fax is so good:

 1. It is a fax, not an email. A significant number of emails do not get delivered. 100% of faxes get delivered. If you want to get to someone, send a fax - not an email!

2. It got passed my gate keeper.

3. It is really a form letter. Note the top where he wrote my name by hand. This means he probably sent this same fax to dozens of other entrepreneurs. I'll bet many of them will respond with answers to his questions. He could have taken the time to type my name at the top, but his fax still worked and got my attention.

4. In the first paragraph, he bonds with me by explaining he is just getting started. I can certainly understand his situation, because I was once in his shoes. He includes details about my work which shows that he has paid his dues at the library and he asks me to help him so that he can help others in the future.

5. He realizes that I have had mentors in my life and these mentors have helped me enormously. He uses this to his advantage by asking me to help him simply by answering a few questions. He didn't ask for a phone call. He didn't ask for a meeting.

6. At the bottom in the "P.S.", he offers to give something back to me by expanding overseas.

Well guess what?

His faxed worked because I'm going to answer his questions. I figured that his fax might be helpful to others who need help from experienced mentors. You might want to copy his idea and send a similar fax to people you would like to be mentored by. Here are his questions along with my answers:

What are the business lessons that changed your business and increased your profits through the roof?

A few of the general business lessons I've learned, in no particular order, are as follows...

• To niche your business around a segment of the market and then dominate the segment.
• To focus 100% on generating and converting leads for your business. Too many people get distracted from this within their businesses.The only shiny object you should chase are new leads for your business.
• Surround yourself with great people. Great people do not come from "help wanted" advertisements. They are found working somewhere else and must be recruited to join your team. If they are looking for work, you instantly know they were replaceable in their previous position(s). 
• Work your ass off to create systems that consistently convert prospects into clients or customers. Once the first lead conversion system is working, begin work on a second conversion system. Build lead conversion back up plans throughout your business. If you can't consistently convert leads, you don't have a business. You're simply a sales person.
• Focus on creating recurring income to increase the value of your business.
• Make testing a critical aspect of your business. Constantly test new advertisements, new sales letters, new lead conversion ideas. Track and compare results of each test. Over time you'll generate more clients for less money.
• DO NOT INCREASE YOUR LIVING EXPENSES AS YOUR BUSINESS SUCCEEDS. Live below your means. Save as much money as you possibly can because things can change very quickly. Live in a small, lower priced home. Buy used cars and drive them forever.
• Do your best to keep your overhead low.
• Learn to delegate so that you can stay focused on lead generation and lead conversion.
• Use compelling sales letters to automatically deliver sales presentations to each prospect.
• Don't be afraid to invest into a good mentor.
• Participate in mastermind groups of like minded individuals.
• Work hard to eliminate dependency in your life and in your business.

What are the books that inspired you and gave you the biggest boost in your life?

To be honest, I learn something from every book. The trick is taking the time to ask yourself the following question when reading:

"How can I use this idea in my business?"

This one question allows you to turn every book you read into money.

Looking back, I've gone through stages in my reading. I tend to concentrate my reading around one topic and read everything I can get my hands on until I completely master the topic. In the late 1990s I focused entirely on investing and building wealth. I read everything I could get my hands on and implemented what I learned. I tried every investing strategy I read about. I made a ton of mistakes and learned a great deal. I'm a better investor today because of these mistakes. I now know which investments work for me and which ones don't. I can now concentrate my time, energy and $$$ into the highest yielding investments. For example, the single best investment I can make right now is buying more clients for my business.

From 2000 to 2004, I focused on leadership. I read every book I could on how to become a better leader. This was because I started my own real estate brokerage in 2000 and needed to learn how to motivate people. I listened to John Maxwell, I attended seminars and I implemented what I learned. Slowly but surely I learned how to lead people. Many entrepreneurs don't take the time to study leadership. I think this is a critical mistake.

In 2004, I began reading books on marketing. I read and devoured everything Dan Kennedy wrote. I also purchased, studied and read everything Dan recommended. I have books on marketing from every top marketer throughout history. I attended seminars. I networked with other marketers. Most importantly, I applied what I learned to my business.

In 2006, I began reading books on how to sell your business. I didn't read just one book, I read many books. I then used what I learned to sell my real estate business.

Now I'm focusing on books about the economy, the value of the dollar, inflation, and government spending. How will all of this impact us going forward? What can I do to protect myself from loss and profit from the various opportunities available?

The goal when reading shouldn't be to read what sounds interesting or fun. The goal should be to select a topic that will have the biggest impact on your business/life and then focus entirely on this topic until you've mastered it. Then you repeat this process with a new topic. For example, don't read a book on investing today and a book on marketing tomorrow and then a book on selling your business next week. There is no focus in this process. You'll get distracted and won't make any major improvements in your life or business. Focus your reading around your biggest challenges.

As you read multiple books around the same topic, you'll be able to see trends or commonalities. Pay attention to these commonalities. They are shortcuts to your success. Don't make the mistake of saying, "I already know that..." Instead say, "Ok, I've now seen this idea or strategy 8 times in the last 10 books. I must focus on this because it is a common theme running through every book." For example, you might read biographies of the richest people throughout history. Look for commonalities from person to person. Leverage these commonalities by copying or applying them in your life.

Andrei even though I don't know you and haven't talked with you, I can easily see that you will be successful in life. This is evident simply from the fax I received from you.  I wish you the best and I hope that my comments will prove helpful for you!

Rob Minton

Great Tools, Gadgets and Resources for Real Estate Agents

Post written by Rob Minton
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In this post, I thought I would share a few of my favorite tools, gadgets or resources with you. I have written about a few of these previously, but you'll be able to find some new ones in this post! I use each tool, gadget or resource listed every single day and have found them to be extremely helpful and cost effective. Here we go:

1. 5 Clicks: 5 Clicks is a little print screen software program that you can use to easily capture any part of your computer screen and paste it into a document or turn it into a jpg or gif picture. I use this software a lot. In fact, it is always open on my computer. I've even used it in this blog post by including a screen shot below. It is immensely helpful when writing newsletters, reports, and in marketing materials. It is very easy to use. I simply love it and couldn't work without it. You can see how the software works and give it a test drive on their website.

2. Google Calendar: Last year, I tried Google's free online calendar and haven't looked back. The best part of the calendar is that you can allow other people to schedule and change your calendar. Before Google Calendar, I struggled because I was maintaining two different calendars. One for work and another for family. My assistant at the office controlled the work calendar and my wife controlled the family calendar. Scheduling conflicts occurred frequently and it was very frustrating. Now I operate with just one calendar and both my wife and my assistant schedule everything together. This way they are able to see potential scheduling conflicts and avoid them all together. For example, let's say my wife is trying to schedule a dentist appointment for me. She can check out the Google Calendar and look for an opening and make the appointment. Google's Calendar is free and it is very easy to use. I also sync this calendar with my Iphone using an Iphone application.

3. The Week: The Week is a "weekly" magazine/newsletter delivered to your door. It summarizes the top news stories throughout the U.S. and the world. It is concise, fun and entertaining. I stopped watching the news and reading the newspapers because of all of the doom and gloom. The Week allows me to stay current on what is happening without spending countless hours reading newspapers or watching TV. In addition to news, each issue includes consumer reviews of cars, television shows, movies and more. I usually find interesting ideas to use in Twitter or in client newsletters. In fact, if you send a client newsletter to your database, you can probably learn a great deal about how to format your newsletter and what to include by studying The Week. I found a special offer on their website noting that you can sign up for The Week for just 79 cents an issue. It's a steal at this price.

4.Roboform: This software is amazing. It will save your username and password for every website you visit on a regular basis. You might not realize it, but you probably have to login into dozens of different websites. I currently have over 50 different usernames and passwords setup in Roboform. Previously I would have to maintain a hardcopy summary of each website with my user name and password. Every time I went to the website, I would have to look it up and type it in. This was very time consuming. With two clicks of your mouse, Roboform automatically goes to the website and logs you in using your username and passord. It is awesome and I use it every single day.

5. UnlimitedSqueezePages.com: This company provides software allowing you to create unlimited simple, one page marketing websites. In minutes, you can setup a new website and begin capturing a prospects name, email address and phone number. Below, I have included a screen shot of one of these web pages that I copied and pasted using 5 Clicks (see number 1 above):

Tomorrow I'm hosting a special Webinar for real estate agents on how to sell their listings in one week at market value. I setup this simple website for the Webinar registrations. When someone signs up for the webinar at this site, it will automatically email them the details of how to join the webinar. If you would like to attend this webinar, go to this website and register at: http://www.CommissionBeforeSale.com.

Right now, I probably have over 50 of these little websites setup. I can create a simple one page website for every single marketing campaign I run including: free report offers, free book offers, free webinar/teleseminar offers, and more. You can easily add audio or video to these websites. One of the best features is that you can split test headlines. The software allows you to add multiple headlines to each website you create. It will then rotate these headlines and find the best one with the highest conversion rate. This is extremely powerful because it allows you to improve the results of your marketing from week to week. All of this for around $30 a month. You can test drive this software for $1.00.

In a future post, I plan to share a few additional tools, gadgets and resources. Check these out and see if they'll save you time!

Ideas Worth Spreading

Post by Rob Minton
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If you follow me on Twitter, you probably already heard that I attended the Ted 2009 conference last week in California. I can honestly say that it was the best conference I've ever been to and I've been to a lot of conferences.

This conference was different because it wasn't about business. It wasn't about marketing. It wasn't even about sales or entrepreneurship. It was about sharing ideas that can change the world. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It started in 1984 and has evolved into a large group of people who want to add value to our world. From the TED website:

"We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building a clearing house that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other."

They invite 50 though provoking speakers and challenge them to make the speech of their lives. The speakers ranged from Bill Gates discussing his charitable foundation to Lina Maria Klingwall, who was born with no arms and only one full leg.

Bill Gates shares some of the challenges they face in reducing the number of life threatening illnesses and in improving the educational system throughout the United States. His presentation was so good that I've included it for you here:

I still think about the one question he asked in this presentation every single day:

"How do you make a teacher great?"

I've reformatted this question several times as follows:

• How do you make a parent great?
• How do you make a family great?
• How do you make a make a school great?
• How do you make a country great?
• How do you make a business great?
• How do you make a team great?

Notice that these questions have nothing to do with money? They have everything to do with seeing the world differently and challenging yourself to make it better. This was life changing for me. 

Or think about Lina Maria Klingvall and imagine what life would be without arms or as she calls says living "Hands-Free." She is an amazing person and I was so inspired by her. Through fierce determination she became a gold medal swimmer, a singing star, a painter and a writer. She has accomplished more with her challenges than most people with two arms and both legs have in their entire life times. Think about what really is possible in life after considering her story.

I encourage you to take some time out of your busy schedule and watch some of the fantastic presentations at Ted.com. They are free and might just change your life, too!

The Run - Part Two

Photo by by annarfay

In my previous blog post, I wrote about running into the wind. I'm going one step further today. Please read this entire blog post because it has some very valuable business advice for you. It will be worth your time! To read part one of this post, click here!

Here goes...

In my early stages of training for the upcoming marathon, I didn't have many problems. My long runs were rather short and the preparation required was minimal. This is different now. My long runs are 12 or more miles and preparation is extremely important. I would go one step further and say that preparation is critical.

For example, this week I'm going to run 15 miles. I started preparing for this long run last week. Here are some of the things I did to prepare:

1. I plan my weekly daily training schedule so that I can have a rest day immediately before.

2. I usually push myself hard one one of the shorter runs so that my long run pace "feels" easier.

3. Three days before the long run, I change my food intake. I want to eat the foods that will help me vs. hurt me.

4. I take certain supplements throughout the week.

5. I'm proactive about pain management. This includes blisters and chaffing.

6. I charge all of my battery powered electronic gadgets including watch, Ipod and cell phone.

7. I take water and Gatorade with me in a special running belt.

8. I make sure that I have the proper running attire available for the long run.

All of this for a measly two or three hour run. Seems like a lot, doesn't it? Basically I'm planning a long run about one week in advance. I imagine that this will get easier as I continue to run longer distances and my body adapts. Right now, it isn't easy.

Now to apply this to business....

What are you preparing your business for?

What is coming in the future?

Are you paying attention?

Most real estate agents got blind sided by the real estate market bubble. Nobody was looking forward. Nobody took the time to prepare for the change in the market. Today, everyone is struggling. There is nothing we can do about this now, except for fight. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, day by day. We can also use this as a tremendous learning opportunity for the future. What lessons has this recession and market bubble taught you? I'll share some of the lessons I learned in my next blog post. (Add your name in the box on the top right hand side of my blog and it will automatically be emailed to you. You don't want to miss it. The lessons are good.)

However, I believe the biggest mistake everyone made was NOT preparing for the market bubble. If this is true, what are we NOT preparing for right now? We should always be preparing for what is coming our way, just like I'm preparing for my long run each week.

What do you think is going to happen in the real estate market next year?

What can you do right now to capitalize on this?

Lets not make the exact same mistake again when the market rebounds. Lets prepare for the massive opportunity that is headed our way. Missing the market rebound would be like kicked in the ribs after you've already had the air knocked out of you.

Over the last few months, I've been doing many things to prepare for a real estate rebound. I want my business to be in perfect position to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities ahead. I do not want to be behind the 8 ball. If you're paying attention to what I'm doing, you might be able to see this as an outsider. You can learn a lot through observation, if you're paying attention.

Start preparing now or you'll suffer BIG time.

Why Warren Buffett is a Billionaire...

Yesterday I finished "The Snowball" by Alice Schroeder. This is the new biography on Warren Buffett and it's a great book. In the chapter titled "Claim Checks," the author described how Warren Buffett has achieved massive success in life.

I found it to be extremely instructive.

Before I share what she wrote about Warren, I thought I would give you Warren's answer to why he was successful - "Intense Focus." In the book, I learned that Warren and Bill Gates debated about what made them successful and they both finally agreed that the number one cause of their success was "Intense Focus."

Warrens intense focus was explained in the book as follows:

"That passion led him to study a universe of thousands of stocks. It made him burrow into libraries and basements for records nobody else troubled to get. He sat up nights studying hundreds of thousands of numbers that would glaze anyone else's eyes. He read every word of several newspapers each morning and sucked down the Wall Street Journal like his morning Pepsi, then Coke. He dropped in on companies, spending hours talking about barrels with the woman who ran an outpost of Greif Bros. Cooperate or auto insurance with Lorimer Davidson. He read magazines like the Progressive Grocer to learn how to stock a meat department. He stuffed the backseat of his car with Moody's Manuals and ledgers on his honeymoon. He spent months reading old newspapers dating back a century to learn the cycles of business, the history of Wall Street, the history of capitalism, the history of the modern corporation. he followed the world of politics intensely and recognized how it affected business. He analyzed economic statistics until he had a deep understanding of what they signified. Since childhood, he read every biography he could find of people he admired, looking for lessons he could learn from their lives. He attached himself to everyone who could help him and coattailed anyone he could find who was smart. He ruled out paying attention to almost anything but business - art, literature, science, travel, architecture - so that he could focus on his passion. He defined a circle of competence to avoid making mistakes. To limit risk he never used any significant amount of debt. He never stopped thinking about business: what made a good business, what made a bad business, how they competed, what made customers loyal to one versus another. He had an unusual way of turning problems around in his head, which gave him insights nobody else had. He developed a network of people who for the sake of his friendship as well as his sagacity - not only helped him but also stayed out of his way when he wanted them to. In hard times or easy, he never stopped thinking about ways to make money. And all of this energy and intensity became the motor that powered his innate intelligence, temperament, and skills."

This one long paragraph explains what intense focus really means. When most people hear "intense focus" they have no clue on how intense someone can and should be about building their business. Warren was consumed with investing and making money. Are you consumed with building your business? Do you think about it 24/7? 

When I tell people about the book "The Snowball" and that is 838 pages long, they usually make a comment that the book is too big for them to read. I guess they don't have intense focus. I have extracted numerous lessons on life, business and investing from this book. This book and the lessons within have been extremely valuable to me. Heck, the paragraph I included above was worth reading 838 pages.

Go back and read the paragraph again. Study it. Print it out. Model it in your life. I certainly am.

Oh and one more thing - go get the book and read it. Stay up all night to read it like I did! Or at least download it on audible and listen to in the car!

How to Sell Your Real Estate Business

I recently hosted a webinar where I shared how I built and sold my business. I explained how I incorporated the 3 Key Economic Moats and separated myself from all of the agents in my marketplace.

With today's crazy economy, it makes a lot of sense for real estate agents to think very hard about their businesses. You either need to make some radical changes or you need to get out of the business. I recently asked real estate agents what they would do if lenders stopped offering home mortgages. I mean completely stopped loaning money. One of the agents that responded said: "I would go bankrupt."

If your business couldn't survive, you're in trouble.

You need to build your business in such a way that it would survive the worst case scenario. The agent who responded to my question does not have economic moats around his business. He also hasn't taken the time to add new income streams. Most agents rely 100% on commissions from home sales. This is a very big mistake.

Real estate agents have been caught with their pants down. We simply took the cream off the top over the last few years and thought life would continue in the same fashion forever. Looking back, wouldn't it have been much better to be diversifying your business away from home sales?

Where is your business vulnerable?

Think about it. I mean really think about it. Now, go to work to reduce this vulnerability. To give you a head start, I recorded the 30 minute webinar referred to in the beginning of this post. In the video I explained how I added the 3 economic moats into my business. I also gave an overview of how I added new income streams into my business.

You can watch this video right now at:

http://www.7figuresvideo.com

I do not plan on leaving this video live for too long. If you want to watch it, do so soon!

Let's Change the World! Pass It On...

Image by VonCanon

This is a guest post from Tom Karadza. He and his brother, Nick, own a thriving real estate business in Toronto, Canada.One of their agents, Mike Desormeaux, is launching a new website that might just change the world one little step at a time. Here is Tom's post:

Every once in a while someone pops up into your life that makes you stop and take notice.

Mike Desormeaux is one of those people. 

He works with Income For Life Real Estate investors in the Greater Toronto Area. His work ethic is second to none, his desire to make others successful in their investments is unstoppable.

He's like the energizer bunny, no matter what obstacle pops up in his way he just keeps going and going.

Mike is the kind of guy that will take the shirt off his back and give it to you.

You know the type.

Then a few months ago he lets me on on his secret project to spread good cheer one tiny step at a time.

And I almost collapsed. 

That's right, almost fell right over.

The idea was that good. 

(Aside:  I figure Oprah will be calling.  Oprah if you are reading this Mike is available for on camera interviews ;)

It's not a new idea.  Not by a stretch.

It's actually based on that movie, "Pay It Forward".

Let me explain....

Mike was out with a bunch of friends earlier this year and just as friends do when they get together a few of them were complaining about events in their life. People who had lied to them, cheated them, not lived up to their word. You know the type of conversation. It's the same one that's going on in your local bar or Starbucks right now.

Everyone talks about the same crap.

Mike walked back to his car that night and said to one of his friends that life shouldn't be this way. We should focus on good deeds, good talk, progress, support, encouragement, opportunity, possibilities.

It was too emotionally draining to do otherwise.

And then his friend shared a story that started Mike's "Chain of Action".

His friend's parents owned a furniture store years ago and one night they found someone sleeping in the doorway of the store. Instead of chasing the person away they offered to take them to their house, to enjoy dinner with them and to have a good night's sleep in a warm bed. The person took up the offer.

Wouldn't it be great if the evening news shared these kinds of stories.

The story blew Mike away and started a chain of action...

Mike was pumped up and decided to do something about it.

How do you keep these stories going? How to you create a tidal wave of action that has one person doing a good deed for another and then them for another?

How do you create a domino effect of actions?

He worked away for a few months and has now come up with his idea.

You can find it here:  www.ChainOfAction.com

Here's how it works:

1. You do a good deed.
2. You pass on a special key chain that has a unique number on it.
3. You share your story.
4. You follow your key chain as it creates a "chain of action".  Watch as the story you started unfolds!

And the neat part.....it's encoded with your postal or zip code so that you can see how far your key chain travels!

Your good deed at the Starbucks in your town may end up resulting in good deeds being done for someone else half way across the country!

And you can watch it happen!

Mike is paying for the start up of this with his own money. No sponsors, no help, nothing. He used eLance.com to help him build the website and that's it.

If you need a key chain go to: www.ChainOfAction.com and grab one.

And let's pass this story on! 

Amidst all the chaos in the world right now let's grow Mike's idea on our own.

Let's take matters into our own hands. 

Go to www.ChainofAction.com right now to get your key chain. 

I have no idea how he is paying for the supplies (I assume it's from his own pocket) and I believe his family is helping him mail out the key chains, so be patient!

"Let's Change The World.  Pass it On!"

Tom Karadza
"Doer of Good Deeds" (as inspired by Mike Desormeaux)

p.s. If you want to reach out to Mike leave a comment on this blog. Because the site is so new he hasn't even had a chance to put up his contact information yet!

"I can ride my bike with no handle bars..."

The title of my post is the lyrics of a song named "Handlebars" by Flobots. I have this song on my Ipod and I listen to it when I run. The song, although unusual, is very inspiring for me. Here it is...

Some of the lyrics from the song are..

"Look at me, look at me... I can make money open up a thrift store. I make money off a magazine. I can design an engine 64 miles to the gallon of gasoline. I can make new antibiotics. I can make computers survive aquatic conditions. I know how to run a business. I can make you want to buy a product. Movers, shakers and producers. Me and my friends understand the future. I see the strings that control the system. I can do anything with no resistance cause I can lead a nation with a microphone...and I can split the atom of a molecule...Look at me, look at me driving and won't stop. It feels so good to be alive and on top. My reach is global. My tower secure. My cause is noble. My power is pure. I can hand out a million vaccinations... and I can do anything with no permission."

Can you do the impossible?

Well, you can't do the impossible unless you believe you can. It all starts in your head. Imagine what your business would be like if you woke up every morning believing you could do the impossible? What would you attempt?

• Would you figure out a way to expand your business beyond your geographic area?
• Would you think bigger about your opportunities?
• Would you go after better, more profitable clients?
• Would you hire better team members to manage your business?

And the final most important question is:

• Would you try and ride your bike with no handlebars?

The Single Most Important Discipline You Must Have to Be Successful!

There is a lot of talk about discipline and how important it is in life. I agree that discipline is extremely important; however, I've found that it is virtually impossible to be disciplined in every single area of our lives. Most of us are disciplined in some areas, but undisciplined in others.

I have found that by focusing my discipline on certain key areas, I'm able to extract maximum leverage. The goal is to maximize our limited discipline to gain the most leverage from every single day.

As real estate agents, we should be exercise discipline in multiple areas of our businesses. It's truly a daily challenge. I know. I struggle with it, just like you! However, the single most important discipline I've found is this...

Do the most important things for your business first thing in the day - every day. Don't do anything else until the most important things are finished.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? The problem is, you're probably not following this one simple daily discipline.This really is the same strategy as the "Pay Yourself First" money management strategy. We all know how important it is to pay ourselves first. It's important because if we pay everyone else first, there will be no money left over for our own savings. We must put our savings first because nobody else will.

Well the same thing goes for time, if we don't focus our time on the most important activities first, than there will be no time for these activities. We have a tendency to do the easiest things first, instead of the most important things first. When the easy things are finished, there is no time left for the big things. It is critical to remind yourself:

Easy doesn't bring in the dollars!

Everything you spend your time on has an opportunity cost. This is because that same time could be invested into other opportunities. Yesterday, I had a meeting where I offered to invest my time into a project. After the meeting, I thought about the value of my time and the possible financial return for the time invested and realized it wasn't a wise use of my time. I decided not to move forward with the project after this assessment. In other words, every opportunity shouldn't be chased. Only the best opportunities should be chased. This could easily be re-written as...

• Every listing prospect shouldn't be chased. Only the best listings should be chased.
• Every buyer prospect shouldn't be chased. Only the best buyers should be chased.
• Every business idea you have shouldn't be chased. Only the best ideas should be chased.

To be ultra successful in your business, you must become a master at allocating your time to the highest income opportunities. Every single time you choose to work on lower dollar activities, you lose money. Your choices compound every single day. This means your financial losses compound every single day, too! Throughout a month, you can choose to leave a lot of money on the table.

I have found the best way to instill this discipline in my business is to follow Tim Ferriss's strategy. In his book, "The Four Hour Work Week", he recommends managing your "To Do" list on a small index card. Keep a pack of index cards on your desk. Each day start with a fresh index card and list the 3 most important things you can accomplish for your business. Now, you can only list 3 items on your index card for the day. This means you must be very selective about which three items you choose. This little strategy forces you to choose higher value activities. This strategy helps you stay focused on what is important for your business.

This one strategy might just be the one thing that makes your business successful.